"As Valentine's Day approaches, we are once again flooded with the usual suspects: roses, chocolates, sophisticated dinners and glossy ads featuring young heterosexual couples staring earnestly into each other's eyes. The problem isn't just that this version of romance is exclusionary though it is it's that it's profoundly out of step with how love is actually being lived, negotiated and reimagined in contemporary Australia."
"New research shows that close to a third of Australian divorces now occur after the age of 50; a phenomenon known as grey divorce. While overall divorce rates have declined since their 1990s peak, separations among over-50s have bucked that trend. Empty nest syndrome, financial pressures and retirement adjustments are all major drivers, but beneath these factors lies something deeper: a recalibration of expectations about happiness, fulfilment and selfhood later in life."
Contemporary portrayals of romance prioritize youth and present early-life coupling as the normative route to fulfilment. Australians over 50 are increasingly seeking love or redefining intimacy, partnership and companionship in later life. Close to a third of divorces now occur after age 50, a phenomenon labelled grey divorce, even as overall divorce rates decline. Drivers include empty-nest transitions, financial pressures and retirement adjustments, while a deeper recalibration of expectations about happiness, fulfilment and selfhood underpins many separations. The end of a long marriage is often experienced as a reset rather than a failure, and temporal norms about the right time to marry remain persistent.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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