Over the past five years the divorce rate among over-fifties has risen by 8.7%, according to the study carried out by the consultancy firm Future Foundation for Saga, the company that provides services for older people.

The trend is helping to push up the average age at which people divorce. Men, on average, now get divorced at 42, compared with 39 a decade ago; women are typically 39 — also three years older.

Experts attribute the rise to financially independent women leaving when their children have left home — a consequence of the “empty nest syndrome”. Generous divorce settlements and the right of a wife to claim part of her husband’s pension are fuelling the rise.

“Over-fifties marriages are more stable than those between younger couples, statistically speaking,” said Michael Cutbill, Saga’s marketing director. “But they are not immune to wider trends in society and their divorce rates are increasing.”

The study found that one in seven people aged between 50 and 64 is now divorced, compared to one in eight of those aged between 35 and 49. There is also evidence that more older people are divorcing for a second time.

A counsellor at Relate said: “People are living longer and healthier lives and have more choices than ever. Someone in their fifties who is in an unhappy relationship could face a further 30 or 40 active years.”

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