Around Valentine’s Day, stories of old, wizened married couples tend to grace newspaper pages with renewed fervor, such as this recent one about Nicholas and Rafaela Ordaz who just celebrated 82 years of marriage.

For many millennials who seemingly struggle with a lack of commitment and fear of divorce, such long-lasting marriage is amazing, particularly as it seems that many of their parents are falling prey to the divorce bug as well.

But according to a new survey from the U.K. Marriage Foundation, the increase of divorce among long-married couples is simply not true. Instead, the Marriage Foundation notes:

“Once couples have survived their first ten years of marriage, the risk of divorce diminishes with every year until more or less vanishing altogether among couples married for fifty years.”

The Marriage Foundation goes on to state:

“Couples celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary face a one in 25 risk of divorce. The risk drops to just one in 150 couples among couples celebrating 40 years of marriage. And for those married 50 years, the risk of divorce virtually disappears to one in 1500 couples.”

As the study reports, couples in their first 0-2 years of marriage have roughly a 38% chance of divorce, which falls to 34% after 5 years and drops another 10% in the 5 years after that. These numbers, while certainly not rosy, are much more positive than the normal 50% statistic that is often touted in headlines and sound bites.

Judging from this study, is it possible that more people would find the commitment they’re looking for if they were simply willing to stay committed to a marriage for more than a handful of years?

Image Credit: Andrew Menage via Flickr http://bit.ly/1hYHpKw