Made famous by the 1955 movie starring Marilyn Monroe, the 'seven year itch' refers to the perceived tendency for couples to become disenchanted with their relationships after seven years. We are sometimes asked if there is any evidence of a 'seven year itch' in the divorce statistics.
Unfortunately, divorce statistics are not very useful for examining this myth. In New Zealand, a couple can divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable difference after having been separated for at least two years. We don't have information on how long couples are separated before formally dissolving their marriage or how long they had been partnered prior to marriage. Some couples may be separated for much longer than two years before divorcing and some may never divorce. Moreover, the 'seven year itch' does not have to be scratched and may not result in a broken relationship.
Given the limitations mentioned above, is there an increase in divorces after nine years of marriage (that is, seven years for the 'itch' to kick in + two years separation)? Only a relatively small proportion of the couples who divorced in 1999–2008 did so before their third anniversary (that is, their marriage faltered within the first year). Statistics suggest marriages are most at risk between two and three years after marriage as evident by a peak in divorces at 4 years of marriage. There is a steady decline thereafter. About 30 percent divorced after their third anniversary but before their ninth. This suggests that the 'itching' starts well before seven years.
Based on marriages registered in 1990–1999 the greatest growth in the proportion of marriages ending in divorce occurs between four and seven years. So, divorce statistics do not support a seven year itch but indicate an earlier start to a decline in the satisfaction with a marriage.
However, as we have explained, divorce statistics do not give a complete picture of marital health. Other research may reveal more. For example, a survey of 500 couples carried out by Professor Lawrence Kurdek(1) found that married couples experienced a decline in the quality of their marriage in the first four years of their marriage before stabilising and then declining again around year seven. While this research is consistent with the early disenchantment suggested by the divorce data, it also supports a seventh year decline. Therefore we can not dismiss the seven year itch entirely.
Conclusion: this myth is undetermined.
(1) Dalton, A (2000). The Ties that Unbind. Psychology Today. Available from www.psychologytoday.com.
Provided by Statistics New Zealand, 12 March 2010.