Remarriage

Although remarrieds report being more willing than first-marrieds to leave a marriage, first-marrieds and remarrieds actually divorce at similar rates (about 60%). However, the divorce rate is higher if the couple is African American, if the husband is in his early twenties, or if stepchildren are present. Conversely, when a baby is born into a remarriage, the couple is less likely to divorce. When remarrieds do divorce, the divorce occurs sooner than it does for first-marrieds. There are two main sociological explanations for the high divorce rate among remarried couples: (1) a lack of social norms and support for remarrieds in our society in which the majority of the population idealizes the nuclear family as the ideal family, and (2) a smaller number of potential marriage partners with similar values and interests for divorced adults than for the younger group of never-married, single adults. The psychological explanation is that, on average, there are more adults with poor relationship skills or with psychological problems among the population of divorced persons.