Research Findings

Divorce and Remarriage in Later Adulthood

Kay Pasley, Spring 1998

Estimates suggest that about 11% of women will have their first marriages end in divorce some time after their 40th birthday (Uhlenberg, Cooney, & Boyd, 1990). While older adults are less likely to remarry than are younger adults (e.g., those in their 20s and 30s), many do remarry and confront unique issues to their age group. For example, when an older adult remarries, they may have grown stepchildren who are concerned about inheritance issues. Clearly, remarriages amongst mid-life and older adults is an increasingly common phenomena worthy of our attention.

What do we know about divorce among older adults? We know, for example, that there are social, psychological, financial, and physical consequences of divorce for older adults. Recent evidence shows that both at midlife and after midlife divorce negatively influences a person's economic and physical well-being (Holden & Smock, 1991; Lillard & Waite, 1995). Also, their relationships with their children are affected (Aquilino, 1994; Cooney, 1994), as are their social networks (e.g. Gerstel, 1998). We believe some of these negative influences are a function of a more limited range of options after divorce among older adults, especially older women. Many older women may lack the requisite education, skills, and employment experiences that enhance their ability to either reenter the paid labor force or to advance in their current positions. The financial responsibility to one's children decreases with age, although at midlife many parents are assisting their young adult children with college expenses. There is some evidence to show that even older parents continue to contribute financially assistance (e.g., the down payment for a home.) When divorce occurs, the cost of maintaining two parental households may prohibit continued assistance to one's adult children.

Beyond financial issues, research also shows that the quality and nature of the relationship between parent and children change when parental divorce occurs later in children's life, especially for young adult children. For these children, custody, visitation and child support are no longer issues affecting the relationship, although there may be other forms of continuing financial support, such as college tuition. Using reports from 3,281 young adults who grew up in nondivorced families, Aquilino (1994) found that parental divorce lowered the quality of the parent-child relationships as reported by the young adult, especially the father-child relationship. He also found less contact between parents and young adult children after parental divorce. Cooney (1994) found similar findings, although her study showed that parental divorce had little impact on the relationship between mothers and children, but some dramatic effects on fathers and children. These studies both show that divorce weakens kinship ties and obligations when it occurs later in life.

What happens when an older adult remarries? We know much less about a remarriage in older adults than we know about divorce. Some research shows that older remarries perceive more negative social pressure about their decision to remarry. Sanctions ranged from knowing glances and raised eyebrows to rejection by adult children. In one of the few studies of a remarriage in older adults, McKain (1972) reported that 25% of her 100 couples said they almost did not remarry because of such pressure. Later research by Vinick (1978, 1983) showed that the negative sanctions were more common from one's peers than one's children. In fact, most adult children in this study were supportive of their parent's remarriage.

More recent studies have examined the internal dynamics of a remarriage in older adults. For example, Pasley and Ihinger-Tallman (1990) studied the effects of conflict, sharing, and consensus on martial satisfaction in a sample of 70 remarries 55 years and older. They found that those who report higher levels of martial satisfaction also reported less negative types of conflict being expressed (e.g. argue/shout, slap/hit, sulk/slam doors). In addition to expressions of negative conflict, women who perceived their spouses shared their problems with them also more frequently reported higher levels of martial satisfaction.

Another study by Bograd and Spilka (1996) used 125 remarried families to compare types of self-disclosure and martial satisfaction in mid-life remarriages (ages 30-40) and late-life remarriages (ages 60-75). Their key findings were: (a) the amount and depth of self-disclosure were less in late-life remarriages, and (b) men in mid-life remarriages reported less martial satisfaction that mean in late-life remarriages. They suggested that remarried couples may develop communication patterns that were absent in their first marriage, and these contribute to marital survival and satisfaction. Findings from Wu and Penning (1997) support this idea. These authors found that redivorce was more common among an older remarriage.

What does all this mean? Clearly, there is a need to focus more research attention on remarriages among older adults, given that the "baby boomers" are now in these age groups. We would anticipate that more older adults and their adult children will experience these martial transitions. Learning about the experience of divorce and remarriage for all members of these families can help us to better meet their needs through prevention and intervention strategies.

* Kay Pasley is the Chair of the SAA Research Committee, and is on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.