Divorced Americans might not have to worry about being alone—chances are remarriage is in their future, according to an analysis of federal data by the Pew Research Center.
While divorce has declined and marriage rates have remained steady in recent years, divorce still shapes a large part of U.S. culture. About 1.8 million Americans got divorced in 2023, according to Pew, reshaping how families and households are formed—often in surprising ways.
Two-thirds of divorced Americans marry again, according to the Pew analysis released Thursday, which focused on what it called in its report “eight facts” about divorce in the U.S. Men and women are remarrying at a fairly similar rate, though divorced men are slightly more likely to remarry than women, Pew found.
A slight caveat from the analysis showed that widows are less likely to remarry than women who have been divorced. Additionally, Pew found that 46% of divorced Americans who have remarried have a child with their current spouse.
“A sizeable fraction of Americans who’ve divorced have gone on to form new families,” lead study author and Pew research associate Jake Hays told CBS News.
For those who do remarry, the economic benefits can greatly outweigh the single life. Pew found that the median household wealth, or net worth, of divorced working adults was $98,700 in 2023, while those in their first marriage had a median household wealth of $326,900. Remarried people had a slightly higher net worth of $329,100, Pew found.
Bari Z. Weinberger commented, “Having gone through the experience of divorce, people entering a second marriage tend to approach it with more clarity and foresight.”
Often, those about to remarry have questions about whether their alimony will end, and they also ask about prenuptial agreements, she said. Weinberger urged those entering second marriages to set clear expectations “when assets from a prior marriage are involved.”
However, some experts caution that remarriage might not lead to “happily ever after” after all. Professors Rosie Shrout of the University of British Columbia and Dana Weiser of Texas Tech University research “gray divorces,” a term referring to couples aged 50 and older who get divorced.
They noted that many of these gray divorces are actually second marriages. In general, there is a higher divorce rate for second marriages compared to first marriages.
Pew researchers found that, overall, the divorce rate has continued to decline since the 1980s, with gray divorces being the exception. Although the gray divorce rate has leveled off recently—after rising from 1990 to 2008—Pew found.
This leveling off could be due to several reasons, Shrout and Weiser explained. There are fewer marriages today compared to previous generations, and some older people are in committed relationships without marriage.
Just like younger couples, cohabitation without marriage is an increasingly popular choice among older adults. There are also couples who choose to live apart—referred to as “living apart together”—where they maintain separate homes while in a committed relationship, the professors added.
Shrout and Weiser emphasized that older adults are often “focused on the positives and the things that make them happy, like connecting with people they love and care about and spending time doing activities they enjoy.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/divorced-marry-again-pew-says/
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