Title: Remarriage.

POPLINE Document Number: 201654

Author(s):

Ihinger-Tallman M
Pasley K

Source citation:

Newbury Park, California, Sage Publications, 1987. 160 p. (Family Studies Text Series Vol. 7)

Abstract:

When the divorce rate began to climb in the mid-1960s, it was, and still is, accompanied by a high remarriage rate. The majority of remarrying couples bring at least 1 child from a previous union to the new marriage. The majority of these remarried families face insurmountable obstacles. This fact is reflected by a redivorce rate of about 60%, 10% higher than the divorce rate for first-married couples. In this book the authors detail the ways that remarriage differs from 1st marriage. An introductory chapter calls attention to the key features that distinguish remarriages. Chapter 2 presents a historical account of how remarriage differed in different eras. Different rates of remarriage for males, females, blacks, and whites, and for people with different education and income levels are reported. Chapter 3 identifies several important family processes associated with marriage and shows why these processes are more complicated in remarriage. Types of remarriages are identified and analyzed. Chapter 4 examines the effects of cohabitation on remarriage. Marital satisfaction of first-married and remarried couples is compared and difficulties of merging 2 households are discussed. Chapter 5 describes problems and satisfactions couples experience when bringing children into the new marriage and explores how remarriage and stepfamily life affects children's development. Problems in stepfamily relationships and influences of friends and extended kin are dealt with in Chapter 6. The final chapter focuses on research and emphasizes caution in interpreting the findings from the early studies on remarriage and stepparenting. This chapter also calls attention to the special methodological problems facing scholars who study this topic.

Keywords:

United States
Remarriage
Family Relationships
Family and Household
Parents
Child
Siblings
Family Characteristics
Research Methodology
Developed Countries
North America
Americas
Marriage Patterns
Marriage
Nuptiality
Youth
Age Factors
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population