children from divorced families may also be less likely to attend college, resulting in the discontinuation of their academic career. Many times academic problems are associated with those children from single-parent families. Studies have shown that this issue may be directly related to the economical influence of divorce. A divorce may result in the parent and children moving to an area with a higher poverty rate and a poor education system all due to the financial struggles of a single parent. Children of divorced parents also achieve lower levels of socioeconomic status, income, and wealth accumulation than children of continuously married parents. These outcomes are associated with lower educational achievement. Young men or women between the ages of 7 and 16 who had experienced the divorce of their parents were more likely than youths who had not experienced the divorce of their parents to leave home because of friction, to cohabit before marriage, and to parent a child before marriage. Divorce often leads to worsened academic achievement in children ages 7–12, the most heightened negative effect being reading test scores. These negative effects tend to persist, and even escalate after the divorce or separation occurs. Children of divorced or separated parents exhibit increased behavioral problems and the marital conflict that accompanies parents' divorce places the child's social competence at risk. Divorce of elderly couples In the United States of America, since the mid-1990s, the divorce rate has increased to over 50% among baby boomers. More and more seniors are staying single; an analysis of census data conducted at Bowling Green State University predicted that divorce numbers would continue to rise. Baby boomers who remain unmarried are five times more likely to live in poverty than those who are married. They are also three times as likely to receive food stamps, public assistance or disability payments. Sociologists believe that the rise in the number of older Americans who are not married is a result of factors such as longevity and economics. Women, especially, are becoming more and more financially independent which allows them to feel more secure with being alone, in addition to changing perceptions of being divorced or single. This has resulted in less pressure for baby boomers to marry or stay married. Statistics Asia China China currently holds one of the highest divorce rates in the Asia Pacific region. Compared to 2000, China's divorce rates have gone up substantially