News that Bill and Melinda Gates were calling it quits after nearly 30 years of marriage came as a surprise to many — but perhaps not to marriage experts, who say that so-called “gray divorce” is a trend that’s been on the rise.
“People are saying, ‘I’m 50 years old, I have 30 more years on this planet, how do I want to spend those years?'” Jocelyn Elise Crowley, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University, told the Wall Street Journal. “And they look at each other and stare.”