A most interesting piece. One thing I would quarrel with is the misleading graphs comparing marriage rates and divorce rates. These compare marriages/1000 to divorces/1000 population. It looks like marriages went from 11/1000 to 6/1000 and divorces went from 5/1000 to 3/1000. At first glance, it looks like divorces are more or less tracking marriages. But the number of marriages was cut in half. What would be relevant in the second graph is divorces per 1000 marriages! Not only did the marriage rate decline greatly, the divorces-per-marriage rate went way up. This seems to be the opposite of the sense of what you are saying. People are both less willing to get married and less willing to stay married. Or am I wrong?

That said, having been alive for all of the years of your data, I'd say this to people who deplore the divorce rate. Almost all of the divorces I have known of personally were a good thing. Young people very often marry foolishly and quickly grow out of their partner. IMO, if we outlawed divorce, miserable people in failed marriages would be the great majority. I have known of few divorces that didn't make things better in the middle to long run.

We outgrow each other. Practically any two people could make a go of it when youth, beauty, optimism, and stupidity are on your side. When youth and beauty fade, you've experienced the pain of living, and you're not quite so stupid anymore, you will thank God for divorce!