The Effects of Children on Divorce and Re-marriage: A Multivariate Analysis of Life Table Probabilities

Abstract

Summary Using proportional hazards models and multiple decrement life tables to analyse data from the 1973 National Survey of Family Growth, this study tests the hypotheses that, net of the effects of such factors as age at separation or divorce, the probabilities of divorce after separation and of re-marriage after divorce would be lower for women with larger numbers of children or younger children, and that these transitions would take longer than for women with fewer or older children or women who were childless; and that there would be an interaction between number of children and age of youngest child. Results included: (1) the probability that mothers of two or more children would divorce after separation was significantly lower than for childless women, or those with only one child; (2) among whites, mothers of three or more children were at a significant disadvantage regarding their chances of re-marriage, whereas the probability that a black mother of three or more children would re-marry was no smaller than that of a woman with fewer or no children; (3) among whites, the presence of a youngest child aged between two and five years at separation decreased the probability of divorce after separation; (4) there was no interaction effect between number and age of children; and (5) in each category of family size and age of youngest child, the probability that a black woman would divorce after separation or re-marry after divorce was lower than for white women. The results have important implications for the study of divorce and re-marriage, and for understanding of problems of single-parent families.

A note on race, ethnicity and nativity differentials in remarriage in the United States

“…The negative association between number of children and remarriage has been found to be greater for black women than white women, especially at higher parities (Koo, Suchindran, and Griffith 1984;Smock 1990).…”

“…Presence of children is also associated with a lower rate of remarriage (Koo, Suchindran, and Griffith 1984;Teachman and Heckert 1985;Bumpass, Sweet, and Castro Martin 1990;Smock 1990). The negative association between number of children and remarriage has been found to be greater for black women than white women, especially at higher parities (Koo, Suchindran, and Griffith 1984;Smock 1990).…”

“…At that time researchers hypothesized that this might arise because more highly educated women had more resources to support themselves (Koo, Suchindran, and Griffith 1984;Thornton 1977). Yet, an analysis of remarriage using data from the 1987-88 NSFG indicated that education was not (any longer) associated with remarriage for white women and was positively associated with remarriage for black women (Smock 1990).…”

Cross-national differences in women's repartnering behaviour in Europe: The role of individual demographic characteristics

“…Longer first unions may also be positively assessed as they imply the ability to commit long-term (Poortman 2007). On the other hand, women whose first union was very long may lack experience in searching for a partner (Koo, Suchindran, and Griffith 1984), or may have more difficulty separating from their first partner and disentangling themselves from joint commitments such as a shared family home, resulting in slower repartnering.…”

Separation and Reconciliation in American Marriages

“…Empirically, it is now clear that the social and legal terminations of marriages are quite distinct, and that there are systematic variations in populations with regard to both the extent to which all separations are followed by legal divorces and the length of time between separation and divorce. In the United States the median interval from separation to divorce is substantially longer for black women than for white women (Koo, Suchindran, and Griffith, 1984;McCarthy, 1978). McCmhy (1978) found that approximately 90 percent of white women who have been separated from their husbands for five years have obtained a legal divorce compared to 50 percent of black women.…”