Divorce is never an easy decision for couples. Obviously, there are many considerations-the children, emotional and mental health, finances, and so on. Nobody stands up on the altar and says "I do" planning all the while to end the marriage seven years later. Unfortunately, though, seven years later is very often when things fall apart.

According to census data released this year, there really is something to the phrase, "the seven year itch." According to the data, the median time between marriage and divorce for first marriages is eight years. The median time between marriage and separation, interesting, is seven years.

According to marriage experts and those who've been through divorce, there is a combination of factors contributing to the situation, including the stress of caring for children, work and family pressures. Seven years seems to be the time around which those pressures begin to become unbearable for many.

According to Andrew Cherlin, a sociology and public policy professor at Johns Hopkins University, married couples who end in divorce find within the first few years that they are unhappy in their marriage. For some, he says, it is a growing realization of the many flaws of their partner, despite their positives. For others, it is a realization their spouse cannot provide the kind of income they would like. For others, it is simply a matter of getting a different perspective of life once the responsibilities of family life and work begin to build up, and wanting a different direction.

The recent separation of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony fits nicely within the statistics. The couple, who had been together for seven year, recently announced their decision to end their marriage. The announcement apparently came as a shock to fans, who had seen so many images on television and internet of the happy couple kissing one another. Lopez and Anthony have two young children together.

According to sources, the separation was the result of the combined stress of disagreements about which coast to live on, dealing with extending family stress, and a recent scandal connected to Anthony's unpaid real estate taxes.

Source: The Age, "Marriages still hitting seven-year itch," 29 July 2011.