Home » Statistics » 53 Fascinating Divorce and Remarriage Statistics

53 Fascinating Divorce and Remarriage Statistics

Are you divorced and thinking about getting married again? Although it seems like true love the next time around and that things are going to finally work out, the statistics don’t actually support this viewpoint. That’s not to say that you aren’t in love. The facts just say that you’re going to walk a difficult uphill journey to make that love last.

About 60% of all remarriages end up failing and ending in divorce in all demographics. This is double the percentages of some first-time marriage demographics.

Divorce and Remarriage Facts

With 9 out of 10 Americans getting married at some point in their life, it seems like a good idea to get married. There are financial benefits and married couples are traditionally happier and more economically stable than their single, divorced, or separated counterparts, but once divorce happens once, it isn’t as scary. It becomes an easier out and so people are more willing to take it.

  • 70% of people who get a divorce will wind up getting married once again at some point in their life.
  • If cohabiting couples are included in this figure, the statistics show over 80% of people take the chances on another relationship.
  • About 29% of all marriages in the United States involve at least one person who has been married at least one time before.
  • About half of all people who experience a divorce will remarry within 5 years of a divorce, a figure that is actually down 10% since 1960.
  • Men generally remarry faster than women do after a divorce.
  • Caucasians are more likely to remarry faster than any other racial demographic in both genders.
  • The median amount of time that it takes someone to get married after a divorce is 3.7 years, which has been fairly stable since 1950.
  • 29% of eligible men say they want to remarry.

People have a desire for companionship and they are willing to risk a lot for love. This means that getting married once again, even after multiple divorces, seems like a good idea. Yet with every remarriage that occurs, the pattern of divorce also establishes itself more readily. People are more willing to bail on what they see as a “bad” marriage because they become numb to the divorce process. It’s almost like a bad habit that you just can’t break. With that being said, 4 out of 10 remarriages wind up being successful. You might have to beat some odds, but it can be done.

Who Gets Remarried After a Divorce?

  • Women are more likely to agree to their second marriage between the ages of 25-34.
  • The age when men are more likely to agree to a remarriage: 35-44.
  • When who are 24 or younger are twice as likely to be married for a second time when compared to men.
  • About 60% of the men and women in recent remarriages are at least 25 years of age, but under the age of 44.
  • 25% of women who choose to get remarried are over the age of 45.

The first thing to note here is that it shows men are more likely to marry women who are younger than they are. Now it doesn’t mean a 45 year old man is going to marry a teenager in most circumstances. It does mean that men are comfortable with an age gap of a few years, seemingly much more so than women. This data also shows that women are more willing to get remarried when they are younger than when they are older, which is the reverse of the trends of men. All in all, if you’re getting married in your late 20’s or your early 30’s, then there’s a good chance that you or your partner have been married at least once before.

What Does The Remarried Household Look Like Today?

  • 51% of remarriages have no biological children as part of the family structure.
  • The percentage of households that have only the man’s biological children as part of the family: 3%.
  • Nearly 1 in 4 remarriages has children from the woman, but no children from the man in the marriage.
  • More households have children from multiple households and multiple marriages than households that have a father’s biological children only.
  • 8% of remarried households have their own biological children as part of the family only.
  • Another 9% of remarried households have children that both individuals have custody over, including non-biological kids.
  • 33% of men and 28% of women who form a remarriage do not have any children whatsoever.
  • 65% of couples who intend to get married end up living together at some point before the ceremony occurs.

Mixed families are actually becoming the normal family unit. With some demographics having divorce rates at 80%, kids are following one parent along for what seems like a bumpy ride. This doesn’t even include cohabiting couples as part of the stats either, where 40% of kids will living with a cohabiting partner of their parent at least once by the age of 12. Children are part of the package and that makes remarriage unique, but 1 in 2 marriages that happen for at least the second time don’t have any kids involved. Why do most remarriages not involve kids? Although it might be because both parties are childless, it seems that men are less likely to have custodial children and they are marrying women for their first marriage and have not had a child out of wedlock.

How Many People Are Really Getting Remarried?

  • According to US Census data, 12% of men and 13% of women have been married twice.
  • 3% of the American population has been married 3 or more times.
  • More than half of all men and women over the age of 15 have been married only once.
  • Women are more likely than men to have been married only once.
  • Once the age of 25 is reached, 52% of men have been remarried.
  • The percentage of women that are remarried by the age of 25: 44%.
  • Just over half of the women who are currently married have been in that relationship for a minimum of 15 years.
  • Less than 2% of marriages end because of becoming a widow or widower.
  • 88% of Americans in their 20’s believe that they have a soul mate who is waiting for them.

What is interesting here is the timing in age. For men, it is common to be married only once before the age of 24. Once the age of 25 is reached, however, it is more common to have been remarried than it is to be married just once. This shows that there are many divorces that occur in the magic 18-24 age demographic. It is a time when people are still growing up, maturing, and trying to find their way in this world. As people find out who they are, they tend to change. It appears that many of those changes are unable to survive the bounds of love and that’s why remarriage occurs. These statistics also show that women are more likely to try to work things out than men are.

Is Divorce Really That Common?

  • In the United States, there are about 876k divorces annually. This means that there is a new divorce happening every 36 seconds.
  • The average length of a first marriage is just 8 years.
  • 41% of first marriages end in divorce.
  • The percentage of third marriages that end in divorce: 73%.
  • The average age for someone going through their first divorce is 30 years of age.
  • If the parents of a child are happily married, then their child has a 14% reduction in the risks of having a divorce with their first marriage.
  • Attending college decreases the risk of a divorce by another 13%.
  • Living in a state that typically votes for Republicans in the US actually increases the chances of a divorce happening.

As with everything in life, people learn what they know from their parents. They end up emulating those behaviors, whether they realize it or they don’t. Some are able to consciously break the patterns that exist, including divorce, but they face high risks in doing so. When people are exposed to divorce, it becomes normal. When it is normal, then there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. This is true for every demographic there is, including people who identify themselves as being religious or evangelical. With that being said, however, there are a few ways that the risks of divorce can be minimized.

How Likely Are You To Get A Divorce?

  • About 40% of women today are likely to get a divorce after their first marriage.
  • The percentage of women today who will remarry following their first divorce: 30%.
  • 16% of women today are likely to be divorced at least twice if the current remarriage and divorce trends continue as they have.
  • 70% of children today live in homes that are intact with their biological or adoptive parents.
  • The amount of children living with their divorced mothers in a single parent household has doubled since 1970.
  • Children are more likely to lose contact with their father after a divorce than their mother, causing single mothers to seek out a new father figure.

About 1% of fathers are awarded sole custody of their children after a divorce. That’s only 838k children right now and may contribute a lot to the disparity in women getting remarried earlier than men. Men generally just provide child support and more than a third of divorced fathers don’t have any contact with their children after the marriage breaks up. More children actually live with their grandparents instead of living with their father only in a sole custody situation! Although this section of statistics may not have a direct impact on the divorce and remarriage statistics, it certainly seems like women are seeking out men in their 20’s when there are children involved and that this is boosting the chances of a remarriage occurring.

What Can Make A Remarriage Be Part Of The 40%?

  • Couples that have children have a divorce rate that is 40% lower than couples that do not have any children.
  • Being an atheist or an agnostic can lower the divorce rate by up to 10% when compared to devout religious groups.
  • Waiting until the age of 25 to get remarried can reduce the chances of a divorce occurring by up to 24%.
  • By not having a child out of wedlock, women are able to have an 18% increase in the chance of having a successful marriage.
  • 60% of cohabiting couples eventually get married.
  • Despite all of the data, divorce rates have steadily increased in general since 1860, although peaks after World War II and in the 1970s.
  • Women who get married or remarried after the age of 30 are the least likely to become part of a divorce.

Despite all of the data, there really isn’t any direct correlation to many of the factors that are thought to cause a divorce. Teenage marriages are the most likely to end in a divorce, but education and age factors only draw a minimal difference in comparisons and only then, it occurs when one direct demographic is compared to a second direct demographic. Only 34% of African-American women whose marriage ended between 1965 and 1984 remarried by 1988, compared with 60% of white women. The only issue is this: for kids, adjusting to a blended family is more difficult than adjusting to the life of a single parent household. From a child’s perspective, it is almost better to not get remarried unless money is an issue.

Divorce Facts and Statistics

About The Author
Although millions of people visit Brandon's blog each month, his path to success was not easy. Go here to read his incredible story, "From Disabled and $500k in Debt to a Pro Blogger with 5 Million Monthly Visitors." If you want to send Brandon a quick message, then visit his contact page here.