Marriage dissolution and remarriage.

Abstract

A cross national analysis of marriage dissolution and remarriage was conducted using World Fertility Survey data on women of reproductive age in 27 countries. Rates of dissolution and remarriage influence exposure to sexual intercourse and are of interest as determinants of fertility. The survey data had certain limitations for use in studying dissolution and remarriage. These included 1) misreporting of age and marriage dates in the surveys was common 2) insufficient information to determine if informal unions were actually ended or just temporarily interrupted and 3) the failure of some surveys to distinguish between separated divorced and widowed women. Life tables of marriage dissolution duration of marriage to time of interview and duration of marriage to dissolution were developed. Regression estimates of time spent in union based on current marital status were also calculated. By ages 20-25 almost all women were in union and most of the women spent the rest of their reproductive years in union. There was wide variation in the stability of unions. Dissolution rates were highest in the Caribbean and lowest in the Asian region. Women who resided in countries with high dissolution rates tended on the average to spend less time in unions than women who resided in countries with low dissolution rates; however the differences in time spent in union did not exceed 1 year. At the time of interview the proportion of women in 1st unions ranged from .31 in Jamaica to .71 in Bangladesh and Pakistan; the proportion in succeeding unions ranged from .02 in Korea Sri Lanka Jordan and Syria to .22 in Haiti; the proportion separated or divorced was less than .05 in 16 countries and between .05-.13 in the remaining countries; and the proportion widowed ranged from .01-.04 in 22 countries and reached highs of .06 and .07 in Senegal and Bangladesh respectively. The dissolution rates in the 1st 5 years of marriage were much higher than in the succeeding 5-year periods except in countries with increasing rates of dissolution. Dissolution rates tended to be higher for early marriage age cohorts and a few late marriage age cohorts than for middle marriage age cohorts. Younger birth cohorts compared to older birth cohorts had later ages at marriage in some countries and higher rates of dissolution in about 1/2 of the countries. Remarriage rates were higher for women who experienced early marriage dissolution than for women who experienced later marriage dissolution. There was close correlation between current marital status and the women years spent in particular marital statuses. The findings are presented in tabular form.

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