(NEXSTAR) – The divorce rate may be trending downward, but one demographic is calling it quits more often.

Baby boomers and older adults are three times more likely to be divorced these days than they were in the 1990s, a study by Bowling Green State University found. The trend of getting divorced after 50 has been nicknamed "gray divorce."

One possible reason for the increase is simply that people are living longer, psychology professor Rosie Shrout explained in a post for Purdue University.

"People are less willing to endure unhappy marriages for so long and are more optimistic that they will find another partner. And so older adults are more willing to divorce than they were in the past," she said.

Shrout, who now teaches at the University of British Columbia, told NPR more older ad

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