Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 14: Divorce and Remarriage

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Desertion and Marital Separation Desertion is the willful abandonment, without legal justification, of one’s spouse, children, or both. Marital separation may be: – A precursor to divorce; –A temporary solution while couples work out problems; or –A separation in which couples never reconcile, but never divorce. Most separations are informal, not legal.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Annulment An annulment is granted when the court finds that causes existed prior to the marriage that render the marital contract void. An annulment may be granted if one partner is: –Underage –Already married –Insane

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Divorce Around the World Variations in divorce rates cross- nationally are correlated with four societal-level variables: 1.High male-to-female sex ratio 2.Later age at marriage for women 3.Level of socioeconomic development 4.Female labor force participation rate

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Divorce in the U.S. Divorce rates can be calculated by: –Crude divorce rate-the number of divorces that take place per 1,000 people in the population –Refined divorce rate-the number of divorces per 1,000 married females –The ratio of divorces to marriages in a given year

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Trends in Divorce Divorce rates have risen around the world in the last fifty years. Structural explanations include: –Increased industrialization; –Urbanization; and –Religious and legal diversity. Divorce rates are also correlated with economic conditions.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Variations in Divorce Divorce rates vary according to: –Geographic area –Age of husbands and wives –Length of marriage –Demographics (race, religion, socioeconomic status)

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Legal and Social Grounds for Divorce In the U.S., adversary divorce, where one party is innocent and the other “at fault,” has been replaced with no-fault divorce based on “irreconcilable differences.” No-fault divorce was intended to: –Reduce legal and economic obstacles; and –Improve the social-psychological climate. Divorce mediation is offered to couples experiencing high levels of conflict over property distribution and/or child custody.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Impact of Children on Parental Divorce The presence of children tends to delay, rather than prevent, divorce. Older children and those born before marriage significantly increase the chances of marital dissolution.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Consequences of Divorce The probability of divorce increases when alternatives are perceived as providing greater rewards or lower costs than marriage. Individual adjustment to divorce is linked to: –Income –Steady dating –Cohabitation –Remarriage –Being the partner who initiated the divorce

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Consequences of Divorce Following divorce, men’s economic situations tend to improve, while women’s decline. For women, post-divorce economic recovery is linked to: –Entering the paid labor force (or increasing hours worked); –Obtaining or increasing child support from the father; or –Re-marrying or cohabiting with a person who provides resources.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Consequences of Divorce for Children Diminished social and economic resources, which affect: –Educational attainment –Marital timing –Probability of marriage and divorce Detrimental social, psychological, and health consequences (higher for adolescents than younger children)

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Child Custody The majority of custodial parents in the U.S. are women. Joint custody is an arrangement where the child spends at least 30 percent of time with each parent. Joint custody is promoted by the absence of parental conflict.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Custodial Parents Custodial fathers tend to be white, over 30, highly educated, and have high incomes. Custodial mothers experience high rates of poverty. Non-custodial fathers have low compliance with child support awards, and have little contact with the children.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Split Custody Split custody involves separating children so that each parent has custody of at least one child. This arrangement is usually instituted because of children’s wishes.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Homosexual Parents Most courts assume that it is not in the “best interest of the child” to live with gay or lesbian parents. Research indicates that there is no evidence to support this bias.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Economic Well-Being Two key determinants of economic well- being for divorced, custodial mothers are: –Child support –Remarriage Mothers who regularly receive child support are less likely to remarry.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Remarriage About two-thirds of divorced persons remarry. The Likelihood of remarriage is higher for: –Men –Those who divorced at younger ages –Childless persons –Persons with less than a college education –Women who do not participate in the paid labor force –Men with higher incomes and women with lower incomes

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Marriage among the Remarried Remarriages have a higher probability of disruption than first marriages. Remarried persons are more likely to: –Be poorly integrated; –More willing to leave marriage; and –Have lower socioeconomic status. Children from previous marriages tend to have a destabilizing effect on remarriage.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Remarried Couples with Stepchildren Remarriage increases a family’s economic security and provides an additional parental figure. Remarriage does not directly benefit children or stepfamily households. Children exhibit more adjustment problems than children in intact families.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Remarried Couples with Stepchildren The structural variations of remarriage create boundary ambiguity, or uncertainty concerning membership, roles, and responsibilities. This uncertainty increases family stress and child behavior problems.