The Quality and Stability of Remarriages: The Role of Stepchildren

Abstract

This paper separates the effects of remarriage and presence of stepchildren on the stability and satisfaction of second marriages. Using a [U.S.] nationwide probability sample of 1673 married individuals interviewed in 1980 and again in 1983 [the authors] show that the higher divorce rate among remarriages is limited to the most complex form of remarriage: where both spouses have been previously married and there are stepchildren in the household....In addition to breaking up their families through divorce stepfamilies are shown to move teenagers out of the home and empty the nest faster than biological families. [They] conclude that the presence of stepchildren is a destabilizing influence within remarriages and a major contributor to the somewhat greater rate of divorce. (EXCERPT)