1. In 2012, the number of people in the UK aged 60+ who filed for divorce was 3% higher than it was in 2011, and 45% higher than it was in 2002.
2. In the US, one out of every four people experiencing divorce is over 50 and 55% of gray divorces are between couples who had been married for more than 20 years.
3. These figures are bound to rise. The number of people aged 65+ in the UK is projected to increase from 10.8 to 20 million by 2031. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the number of people over 65 will increase from 37.8 to 88.5 million by 2050.
4. A 2004 national survey conducted by AARP in the US found that 66% of divorces in people aged 40-69, are initiated by women.
5. But older women face structural barriers to forming new relationships after a divorce. Because men die sooner, the sex ratio becomes increasingly lopsided with age.
6. This inequity is aggravated by the fact that older men tend to date women who are significantly younger than them. On average, white men over 60 marry women who are nine years younger and black men over 60 marry women who are 12 years younger (England & McClintock, 2009).
7. Because of these anomalies, Professor Sara Arber, co-director of the Centre for Research on Ageing and Gender at the University of Surrey, estimates that for a woman over 65 there is a 10,000 to one chance of marriage, whereas for a man the odds fall to a thousand to one.
8. Unsurprising then, that men are more likely than women to be sexually active following a divorce (Stack and Gundlach ,1992).
9. Its also an issue of finance. Women fare worse economically after divorce and qualitative research suggests that whether divorced women re-enter the dating scene and become sexually active partly depends on whether or not they are financially independent (Lichtenstein, 2014) .
10. Research by Kate Davidson, co-author of Intimacy in Later Life suggests that men and women have different motives when they repartner in later life. Men seek a resumption of a private life - they want someone to 'come home to', whereas women seek a public life - they want someone to 'go out' with. As such, older women who are financially independent are often less enthusiastic about remarriage. According to a survey of 5000 members of that reliable statistical source MillionareMatch.com, 83% of divorced men would consider marriage in the next five years, but only 32% of divorced women would do the same.