Income Pooling in Midlife: A Comparison of Remarried and Cohabiting Relationships.

OBJECTIVES: The share of adults cohabiting at later ages has risen in the past few decades, though little is known about income pooling among midlife cohabitors. Cohabitation could be an attractive option because partners may be able to preserve their economic autonomy and maintain assets for the next generation. Conversely, cohabitation may operate as an alternative to marriage, allowing midlife adults to combine their resources to achieve economies of scale without the legal obligations of marriage. This study compared income pooling among middle-aged remarried and cohabiting adults in the United States. METHODS: Data were from the nationally representative 2013 Families and Relationships Survey. The analytic sample included adults aged 50-65 who were cohabiting or remarried (N = 888). Logistic regression models were used to predict the likelihood of income pooling among cohabiting and remarried midlife adults, net of relationship, demographic, and economic characteristics. RESULTS: Aligning with the hypothesis that cohabitation and remarriage are distinct in middle age, the odds of income pooling were lower for cohabitors than remarrieds. However, the gap between cohabitors and remarrieds narrowed by later ages. DISCUSSION: This study provides insight into the economic organization of midlife cohabiting relationships, which may have implications for individual well-being and relationship decision-making among middle-aged couples.

Associations between dyadic relationship quality and stepfamily functioning: A common fate modeling approach.

Clinical and empirical literatures have highlighted the value of attending to distinct dyads within stepfamilies to ensure the needs of various relationships are being met. From a family systems perspective, the growth and maintenance of positive dynamics within one dyadic relationship can yield gains in other relationships and shape the larger stepfamily environment. Research seeking to link information about dyads and larger stepfamily systems is often marked by single-informant data or measures that represent individual-level constructs. Methods intended to leverage multi-informant data as indicators of dyad- or family-level constructs (i.e., common fate modeling; CFM) offer valuable opportunities to expand our understanding of stepfamily experiences. Using a sample of 291 stepparent-parent dyads, our study uses multi-informant data and CFM to assess three dyad-level constructs (i.e., marital quality, marital confidence, and stepparent-child relationship quality) as correlates of three stepfamily-level constructs (i.e., cohesion, expressiveness, and harmony). Our findings illustrate meaningful linkages among dyadic relationships and broader stepfamily-level dynamics, specifically emphasizing the role of stepparent-child relationship quality and marital confidence in shaping stepfamily cohesion, expressiveness, and harmony. The results also signal the potential for substantive findings to vary with respect to the selected unit of analysis.

A web-based psychoeducational simulation game for adults in stepfamilies (GSteps)-study protocol for a randomized controlled feasibility trial.

Background: Stepfamilies are a prevalent family form. However, less stable than nuclear, first marriage families due to the presence of risk factors such as the absence of social norms and the presence of stepchildren. Stepfamilies have unique educational needs regarding stepparenting and co-parenting issues. The development and documentation of psychoeducational intervention strategies can facilitate dissemination of ongoing studies and promote transparency. This article describes the background, design and protocol of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the eficacy and feasibility of a web-based Psychoeducational Simulation Game (GSteps). Behavior-modeling video training (BMT) is used to demonstrate and promote relational skills, stepparenting and co-parenting effective strategies for adults in stepfamilies. A mental health professional will be available within the GSteps platform for clarification or emotional support. Methods/design: A RCT design is presented to evaluate the outcomes of a self-administered, interactive and web-based psychoeducational Game targeting dyadic marital adjustment and interpersonal skills as the primary outcomes and remarriage beliefs, family function and stepparenting and co-parenting attitudes as the secondary outcomes. Other outcome measures include satisfaction with GSteps, participants' knowledge learned after the intervention and a purposive sampling method will be used to access feasibility. The minimum required sample size is 112 participants (56 per condition) randomly allocated either to an experimental group (EG), receiving GSteps intervention, or to a wait-list control group (CG). A survey is conducted electronically. Assessments take place at baseline (T0 ), after the intervention (T1 ) and 1-month follow-up (T2 ). Discussion: This protocol presents a RCT aimed at evaluating the efficacy of a web-based psychoeducational intervention (GSteps) designed for improving marital, stepparenting and co-parenting skills in adults who live in stepfamilies. The use of the protocol and results of intervention studies may guide the use and refinement of web-based psychoeducational intervention for stepfamilies. Additionally, GSteps may become a tool for health professionals to enhance stepfamily functioning, stepparenting skills, and marital adjustment of remarried adults.

Child marriage, marital disruption, and marriage thereafter: evidence from a national survey.

BACKGROUND: This study examines the relationship between women's ages at their first marriages and the marital disruption among those who experienced child marriages and those who did not as well as identifies some compromises that women make in their remarriages after previous marital disruptions. METHODS: The data of 57,476 women from the 2019 Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey were analysed using multivariable logistic and linear regressions. Women's compromises in their remarriages were examined by determining the age differences with their current husbands, whether the current husband has another wife and their attitudes toward the justification of intimate partner violence by husbands. RESULTS: Almost 65% of women experienced child marriage, and its prevalence is higher in rural (66.5%) than in urban areas (59.2%). The probability of marital disruptions decreases as the ages at the first marriages rise among women who experienced child marriages and increase among women who did not. Women living in rural areas are less likely than those living in urban areas to report marital dissolution (AOR 0.81, 95% CI 0.73-0.90). Also, women who completed relatively more years of education or have greater wealth are less likely to report marital disruptions and those who never gave birth are more likely to report these (AOR 3.54, 95% CI 3.14-3.99). Women who remarried after previous disruptions are more likely to report that their new husbands are, on average, almost 12 years older than they are, and have another wife. Also, those who experienced marital disruptions are more likely than others to believe that husbands are justified in beating their wives in certain circumstances. CONCLUSION: The odd of marital disruption decreases with the ages at first marriage among women who experienced child marriage and increase among women who did not. There is a curvilinear relationship between women's ages at their first marriages and the probability of marital disruptions. Making compromises in remarriages after disruptions is common. Because marital disruption is increasing, appropriate policies are needed to address the adverse outcomes of divorces that ensue.

Less Is More? Repartnering and Completed Cohort Fertility in Finland.

An extensive literature theorizes the role of repartnering for cohort fertility and whether union dissolution can be an engine for fertility. A large share of higher order unions are nonmarital cohabitations, but most previous studies on completed cohort fertility have analyzed only marital unions, and none have incorporated nonmarital cohabitations using population-level data. To analyze the relationship between the number of unions and cohort fertility for men and women, we use Poisson regression with Finnish register data to enumerate every birth, marriage, and cohabitation among the 1969-1972 birth cohorts at ages 18-46. We show that dissolutions of first cohabitations are the main pathway to repartnering and that most higher order unions are cohabitations. Nonmarital repartnering is a strong predictor of low fertility. In contrast, remarriage is positively associated with cohort fertility. Because the bulk of first-union dissolutions and higher order unions are nonmarital, repartnering is not an efficient engine for fertility at the aggregate level. Marriage and cohabitation are far from indistinguishable in a country often described as a second demographic transition forerunner.

Time cannot heal all wounds: Wealth trajectories of divorcees and the married.

Objective: To explore disparities in wealth trajectories between divorcees and continuously married individuals including moderation effects of remarriage and gender. Background: Amid concerns of long-term economic consequences of divorce, research illustrated that ever-divorced individuals hold less wealth than the married preretirement. However, it remains unclear whether this is a direct result of immediate, lasting divorce-related wealth penalties or whether divorce also leads to long-term wealth accumulation disparities. Method: Using personal-level, longitudinal wealth data from the Socio-Economic Panel Study, I applied propensity score and exact matching with random-effects growth models to compare wealth trajectories of divorcees and the married. The matching allowed (1) married controls to be assigned a theoretical divorce date for ease of comparability to the treatment group (i.e., divorcees) and (2) the account of a wide range of baseline differences. Results: Wealth differences between ever-divorce and continuously married individuals stem from lasting disadvantage-particularly for housing wealth-generated immediately around divorce rather than a scarring of divorcees' wealth accumulation. Remarriage but particularly gender is relevant moderators. Whereas remarriage moderates net wealth trajectories through housing wealth, gender moderates trajectories through financial wealth. Conclusion: Divorce importantly contributes to wealth stratification. Mitigation of divorce-related wealth penalties for both men and women needs to focus on immediate, but lasting costs of divorce particularly regarding homeownership.

"Thank U, Next"? Repartnering and the Household Division of Labor.

Objective: Drawing on life course and gender theories, this study tests competing hypotheses about the effect of repartnering on women's and men's levels and shares of housework. Background: Amidst increasing cohabitation rates and union instability, women and men are likely to form and dissolve multiple marital and non-marital unions with different partners over the life course. However, most of our knowledge about the role of past relationships are based on cross-sectional studies comparing first- and higher-order union. This study investigates whether people change their housework arrangements upon repartnering and whether women and men experience similar patterns of change in heterosexual relationships. Method: The analysis draws on 40 years of longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and a sample of 1,897 women and men who were observed in two sequential heterosexual unions. The author used fixed-effects models to estimate change in housework behavior upon repartnering. Results: Overall, the results show stability in housework behavior upon repartnering once controlling for other life course changes that concur with repartnering. Women continued doing the majority of housework upon repartnering. Conclusion: The results suggest that forming a new heterosexual union evokes gender scripts which overall maintains the gendered housework behavior. Although housework is dynamic over the life course, the gender dynamics that shape housework is stable amid union instability.

The Graying of Divorce: A Half Century of Change.

OBJECTIVES: We traced the historical arc of the rise in gray divorce (i.e., divorce that occurs among adults aged 50 and older) in the United States since 1970, elucidating unique patterns for middle-aged (aged 50-64) versus older (aged 65 and older) adults. METHODS: Data from the 1970, 1980, and 1990 U.S. Vital Statistics Reports and the 2010 and 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) were used to chart the trends in gray divorce over the past half century. Drawing on the 2019 ACS, we estimated gray divorce rates across sociodemographic subgroups for today's middle-aged and older adults. We pooled the 2010 (N = 757,835) and 2019 (N = 892,714) ACS data to assess whether divorce risks are shifting for middle-aged versus older adults. RESULTS: The gray divorce rate was low and grew only modestly between 1970 and 1990 before doubling by 2010. Since 2010, the rate has decreased slightly (but the decrease is not statistically significant). The gray divorce rate has stagnated among middle-aged adults but continues to climb among older adults. DISCUSSION: Our study illustrates the graying of divorce over the past half century. Nowadays, 36% of U.S. adults getting divorced are aged 50 or older. The only age group with an increasing divorce rate is adults aged 65 and older, raising new questions about how they will navigate old age.

Prospective marriage and divorce data on Norwegian cohorts of two-sex marriages from 1886 until 2018.

The article contains prospective data on all two-sex marriages formed in Norway between 1886 and 2018, with annual follow-up for 60 years, totaling 133 cohorts and 2 698 632 marriages. The data list the number of marriages that ended in divorce throughout each year of follow-up. The data were obtained through a special order from Statistics Norway. The data from 1981 to 2018 contain additional information about male and female ages, the number of divorces from each cohort in the total population of marriages, as well as divorces among marriages formed in urban and rural areas of the country under four marriage and remarriage constellations: first time for both spouses, first time for one and second time for the other, second time for both, and third time or more for at least one in the couple. Marriages formed within a calendar year are pooled into cohorts, and each pair was examined annually to ensure that the same two persons remained married.

Women's Divergent Union Transitions After Marital Dissolution in the United States.

In the United States, high marital instability calls for more research on union transitions after marital dissolution. Previous studies focus on remarriage and pay little attention to rising post-dissolution cohabitation. In this study, I apply marital search theory to examine the level, pace, and differentials of repartnering (remarriage or cohabitation vs. staying single) and the exit from cohabitation (remarriage or dissolution vs. staying cohabiting). Adopting union history data from the pooled National Survey of Family Growth (2011-2017), I track union transitions among a sample of N = 2129 women. Analyses based on life tables and discrete-time event history analyses reveal important findings. First, most women repartner after marital dissolution. Compared to remarriage, cohabitation occurs more frequently and shows a quicker pace. Second, post-dissolution cohabitation is short-lived, and its transition to remarriage is more common than to dissolution. Third, these union transitions differ by demographic and socioeconomic predictors, including age, race and ethnicity, and education. Overall, I reveal that post-dissolution union transition is a divergent and unequal process, and I further discuss the implications on theory and family inequality.

Economic distress and perceptions of sexual intimacy in remarriage.

Introduction: Economic distress and the relationship stability of remarried couples has been subject to some exploration, but less emphasis has been placed on how economic distress among remarried couples impacts other relationship domains, particularly sexual intimacy. Methods: Through the lens of multidimensional family development theory (MFDT), this study utilizes longitudinal data over a three-year period to examine the links between economic distress, couple engagement, relationship satisfaction, and perceptions of sexual intimacy among remarried couples (n = 1,161 couples; 97% White). Results: Through a dyadic structural equation model, results showed that wives' report of economic distress was directly related to their self-rejection of a partner's sexual advances. Findings also revealed gender differences in how both relationship satisfaction and couple engagement influenced one to accept or reject their partner's sexual advances, with couple engagement acting as a significant predictor for wives. Relationship satisfaction was also found to explain (i.e., mediate) the relation between economic distress and sexual intimacy, but only for husbands. Discussion: Implications for further research and interventions designed to strengthen the relationships of remarried couples dealing with economic distress and intimacy issues are offered.

Fertility decline in sub-Saharan Africa: Does remarriage matter?

The interplay between remarriage and fertility is among the most poorly documented subjects in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), despite remarriage being one of the fundamental aspects of marriage dynamics in this region. We use Demographic and Health Survey data from 34 countries in SSA to document the association between remarriage and fertility during the reproductive years and over the fertility transition. The findings show that in 29 countries, remarried women end up having fewer children than women in intact unions, despite attaining similar or higher levels of fertility at early reproductive ages. However, remarriage is found to have a positive effect on fertility in Sierra Leone. The effects of remarriage on fertility diminish as fertility declines, with smaller effects generally observed in countries that are relatively advanced in their fertility transition and larger effects found elsewhere. These findings shed light on the role that remarriage might play in country-level fertility declines.

Living with spousal loss: Continuing bonds and boundaries in remarried widows' marital relationships.

The grief literature emphasizes widows' continuing bonds with their deceased spouses as a significant part of their grief process. Yet, little is known about what happens to those bonds when a widow remarries and there is a second spouse, and how these bonds are dealt with by the new family members. This study explored the continuing bonds of remarried Israeli widows, the role the second spouse plays in these processes, and the ambiguity and permeability of the boundaries between the first and the second marital relationships. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 Israeli remarried military widows, over three decades after their first husbands' deaths. Data were analyzed by using thematic content analysis. Findings revealed that most of the women maintained continuing bonds with their deceased husbands, whereas a few of them severed these bonds. In all of the scenarios, however, the second husband played a major role, resulting in different levels of boundaries, from strict to blurred, between the first and the second marriages. These findings suggest that in order to obtain a full understanding of grief's impact on the second marital relationship, grief should be considered a couple-hood process in which the boundaries between the relationships are dynamic. The association between these patterns and personal and marital adjustment should be further explored.

En las publicaciones sobre el duelo se hace hincapié en que las viudas continúen los vínculos con sus cónyuges fallecidos como una parte importante de su proceso de duelo. Sin embargo, se sabe poco acerca de lo que sucede con esos vínculos cuando una viuda vuelve a casarse y hay un segundo cónyuge, y acerca de cómo los nuevos miembros de la familia manejan estos vínculos. En este estudio se analizó la continuidad de los vínculos de viudas israelíes que volvieron a casarse, el papel que desempeña el segundo cónyuge en estos procesos y la ambigüedad y la permeabilidad de los límites entre la primera y la segunda relación conyugal. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas con 29 viudas de militares israelíes que volvieron a casarse durante tres décadas después de la muerte de su primer marido. Los datos se analizaron usando el análisis de contenido temático. Los resultados revelaron que la mayoría de las mujeres mantuvieron la continuidad de los vínculos con los familiares de sus maridos fallecidos, mientras que algunas los cortaron. Sin embargo, en todas las situaciones, el segundo marido desempeñó un papel importante y hubo diferentes niveles de límites, desde definidos hasta desdibujados, entre el primer matrimonio y el segundo. Estos resultados indican que, con el fin de comprender completamente el efecto del duelo en la segunda relación conyugal, el duelo debe considerarse un proceso de pareja en el cual los límites entre las relaciones sean dinámicos. Deberá analizarse más profundamente la asociación entre estos patrones y la adaptación personal y conyugal.

Cohort data on divorce among first, second and higher order marriages in Norway 1981 until 2013.

This article present prospective data on all Norwegian two sex-marriages that was formed from 1981 to 2013, all together more than 770 000 marriages, with yearly follow up for until 32 years. Four different categories of marriages and remarriages were investigated: First time for both spouses, first time for one and second time for the other, second time for both, and third time or more for at least one in the couple. The data stems from a special order from Statistics Norway and marriages formed within one calendar year are combined to cohorts where each couple were checked for each successive year if the same two individuals were still married to each other. The data holds the original population for each of the 33 cohorts and number of divorced couples for each year of follow up.

Widowhood, widowhood duration, and loneliness among older adults in China.

BACKGROUND: Widowhood is a distressful life event that is associated with loneliness in older adults. However, widowhood is not a binary event, and little is known about the role of widowhood duration in loneliness and about the relationship between widowhood duration and loneliness in different age and sex groups. Given the increases in aging population and in widowed older adults in China, we examined whether and how widowhood and widowhood duration were associated with loneliness in different age and sex groups among Chinese older adults. METHODS: Five waves of Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey 2002-2014 were used. The analysis included 34,440 sampled individuals aged 65 and above. Random intercept ordered logistic models were used to examine relations between widowhood, its duration and loneliness in the entire sample and by age and sex groups. RESULTS: Results show that with a wide set of covariates controlled for, widowhood was a significant correlate of loneliness in older adults (OR = 2.34, p < .001); and those who were remarried after widowhood were less likely to be lonely compared to their not-remarried counterparts (OR = 0.47, p < .001). In addition, widowhood was associated with more than twice greater odds of loneliness in the first couple of years following bereavement of spouse (OR = 3.09, p < .001) compared to the currently married older adults. The increased odds ratio of loneliness slightly decreased with the length of widowhood, but it was still significant, even after 40 years of bereavement (OR = 1.96, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings are mostly consistent across age and sex groups. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the relationship between widowhood duration and loneliness and the role of remarriage in widowed older adults' loneliness based on a nationwide survey in China. Widowhood has an acute and long-lasting effect on loneliness in older adults. Remarriage after widowhood could largely reduce or offset the risk of loneliness.

Regret and Repair: Experiences of Adult Children and Parents When a Father Remarries Soon After the Death of a Spouse.

The purpose of this study is to better understand what happens to families when a parent remarries quickly after the death of a long-term partner. Men typically re-partner much more rapidly than women do after the death of a spouse. We used a qualitative, grounded-theory method to interview six parents (all men) and their adult children (12 participants total) about their experiences when fathers lost their spouse and re-partnered quickly. We found a variety of reasons for rapid remarriage, and a number of implications for parent-child relationships, including feelings of losing one parent in body and another in relationship, different expectations between parents and children related to holding on to memories of the deceased and finding ways to let go, remaining parents looking back with unexpressed regret, and finally experiences of repair. Clinical recommendations for therapists are provided.

Reconfiguration of relationships during the process of remarriage after divorce. A qualitative study in Iran.

Marriage is highly respected and somehow sacred in eastern societies, including Iran. This qualitative research aimed to explore lived experience of remarried men and women who had experienced divorce in their relationships with their significant others. Seventeen remarried-after-divorce persons whose second marriage lasted over two years participated in the study, conducted using the content analysis method. Under the theme of inter-relationships, four categories were found, including "different spouses, different relations", "reconfiguration of relationships with families", "impacts on child-rearing", and "the importance of unimportant acquaintances". This study showed the complexity of the relationship network when another marriage happens after the first one collapsed. The other finding was that relations after divorce might not disappear completely, and relics of the first ruined shared life may strongly affect the new partnership. The influence of context-oriented issues, particularly in societies where religion and tradition are strong, was the other result. This study showed that remarriage after divorce has positive and negative consequences. Professionals, policymakers and researchers may apply the findings of the research by taking a strengths perspective.

Acceptance of Love and Remarriage Among Older Adults in the Philippines.

Objectives: Later-life re-partnership has been linked to healthy aging, but little is known about Philippine older adults' perception of love and remarriage in older age. Methods: Using two nationally representative surveys on aging in the Philippines, we estimated the proportion of older adults reporting acceptance. Using weighted logistic regression, we assessed sociodemographic and health factors associated with acceptance as well as the relationship of this acceptance with social activity and health behaviors. Results: Only seventeen percent of respondents reported acceptance. Per multivariable analyses, unmarried men and married women reported acceptance, and acceptance was associated with increased social activity and smoking in men, less smoking in women, and more drinking in both genders. Discussion: Most older adults in the Philippines reported love and remarriage in old age as unacceptable. Through these results, we can understand how attitudes toward later-life relationship impact older adults' health and well-being.

Relationship Quality Among Older Cohabitors: A Comparison to Remarrieds.

OBJECTIVES: Later life marital patterns have undergone shifts over the past few decades, including a rapid growth of cohabiting unions. Despite the increase in older adult cohabitation, research on this population has been slow to keep up. Intimate relationships are linked to well-being and relationship quality is especially important because high-quality relationships offer a number of benefits for well-being, whereas poor-quality relationships often are detrimental. This study compares cohabiting and remarried individuals on two measures of relationship quality. METHOD: Using data from the 2010 and 2012 Health and Retirement Study, I investigate the positive and negative relationship quality of cohabitors relative to their remarried counterparts and whether the association of union type and relationship quality varies by race. RESULTS: Across both positive and negative relationship quality, I found few differences between cohabiting and remarried individuals. Black cohabitors report higher positive relationship quality than remarrieds, whereas White cohabitors and remarrieds do not differ. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that cohabiting unions and remarriages are comparable among White older adults, but that Black cohabitors may gain more in terms of positive relationship quality than their remarried counterparts.

The Roles of Marital Dissolution and Subsequent Repartnering on Loneliness in Later Life.

OBJECTIVES: Loneliness in later life is associated with poorer health and higher risk of mortality. Our study assesses whether gray divorced adults report higher levels of loneliness than the widowed and whether social support or repartnership offset loneliness. METHOD: Using data from the 2010 and 2012 Health and Retirement Study, we estimated ordinary least squares regression models for women (n = 2,362) and men (n = 1,127) to examine differences in loneliness by dissolution pathway (i.e., divorce versus widowhood), accounting for social support and repartnership. RESULTS: Divorced men were lonelier than their widowed counterparts. Although social support reduced loneliness among men, the difference between the divorced and widowed persisted. Repartnership assuaged men's loneliness and reduced the variation between divorced and widowed men. Among women, the results did not reveal differences in loneliness for the divorced and widowed although social support and repartnership linked to less loneliness. DISCUSSION: Later-life marital dissolutions increasingly occur through divorce rather than spousal death. Some older adults go on to form new partnerships. Our findings demonstrate the importance of gerontological research widening the lens beyond widowhood to consider the ramifications of later-life divorce and repartnership for well-being.