Second Marriages  The divorce rate following re-marriage is significantly higher than that for the first marriage. A 2002 study by the National Center for Health Statistics (part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States) collected information on the failure of second marriages. Fifteen percent of second marriages ended after 3 years and almost a quarter after 5 years.
The failure of a second marriage is more likely for women under the age of 25 at remarriage (47%) than for women who are at least 25 years of age at remarriage (34%). The probability of second marriage disruption is higher for women who did not grow up in a two-parent family (49%) than for women who did (33%). Women who have suffered from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) are nearly 50% more likely to experience disruption of a second marriage than women who have never suffered from GAD.
Women who already have children at the time of remarriage are more likely to have their second marriage end in divorce than women who do not have any children at the time of remarriage. If the children were unwanted, the probability of the second marriage ending is even higher.
After 10 years of remarriage, the probability of that marriage ending is
32 percent for women with no children at remarriage 40% for women with children, but none of whom were reported as unwanted 44% for women with children, and any of whom were reported as unwanted
It is not surprising that the presence of children from a prior relationship can affect the stability of a second marriage, nor is it surprising that the presence of unwanted children may have a greater effect. The chance of failure of the second marriage is: - higher wiith lower family income
- higher for women without a high school education
- higher for women with no religious affiliation
- higher for women whose first birth was before or during the first 7 months of first marriage as opposed to after 7 months of marriage
- higher for women who are older than their husbands
If a couple lived together before their first marriage, then they were more likely to divorce. Interestingly, this did not seem to be true of second marriages and cohabitation was even associated with a decreased chance of the second marriage failing though this difference was small and not statistically significant.
 If you are struggling with the challenges of a second (or third or fourth) marriage, please contact us today for your free consultation and ask to speak with Kimberley Harris, Ray Robinson, Jennifer Reed, or Chris Berger.
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