Divorced Americans may no longer have to worry about being alone and are more likely to remarry in the future, according to an analysis of federal data by the Pew Research Center.
During divorce decreased Marriage rates have remained steady in recent years, and according to federal data, divorce remains a large part of American culture. About 1.8 million Americans will get divorced in 2023, according to Pew, reshaping how families and households are formed, often in surprising ways.
Two-thirds of divorced Americans remarry, according to Pew analysis Released Thursday, the report focused on what it called “eight facts” about divorce in the United States
Pew found that men and women remarry at a fairly similar rate, although divorced men are more likely to remarry than women. The analysis showed that there is a simple caveat, which is that widows are less likely to marry again than divorced women.
Pew found that 46% of divorced Americans who remarried have a child with their current spouse.
“A significant portion of Americans who divorce go on to start new families,” Jake Hayes, the study’s lead author and a research associate at Pew, told CBS News.
For those who remarry, the economic benefits can greatly outweigh 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. Pew found that remarried people had a slightly higher net worth of $329,100.
Barry Zee said. Weinberger, a New Jersey divorce attorney, told CBS News via email that her clients often reach out to her firm after entering a “new committed” relationship.
“Having been through a divorce, people who enter into a second marriage tend to approach it with more clarity and insight,” Weinberger said.
She added that often, remarried couples have questions about whether their alimony will end, and they also ask about prenuptial agreements. Weinberger urged those entering into second marriages to set clear expectations “when it comes to assets from a previous marriage.”
But some experts have warned that remarriage may not lead to forever.
Professors Rosie Schrott from the University of British Columbia and Dana Weiser from Texas Tech University “gray divorce” – A term referring to couples aged 50 or older who get divorced. They warned that a second marriage could lead to a gray divorce.
“Many of these gray divorces are actually second marriages,” they wrote in an email to CBS News, adding that in general, there is a higher divorce rate for second marriages than for first marriages.
Pew researchers found that the divorce rate overall has continued to decline since the 1980s, with gray divorces being the exception. Although the gray divorce rate has stabilized recently, after rising from 1990 to 2008, Pew found.
Shrout and Weiser said this stability may be due to several reasons. There are fewer marriages today than in previous generations, and some older people are entering into committed relationships without marriage. Just like younger couples, Cohabitation Not marrying is becoming an increasingly popular choice among older people. There are also those couples who choose to live apart, a term referred to as “cohabiting,” where they maintain separate homes while in a committed relationship, the professors wrote.
Shrout and Weiser added that older adults often “focus on the positives and things that make them happy — like connecting with people they love and care about and spending time doing activities they enjoy.”