12.6.8: Remarriage:

 12.6.8: Remarriage: 

“I Do” Again and Again How common is remarriage? 

Look at Figure 12.14. 

As you can see, three of five couples getting married today are saying “I do” for the first time. Two of five have said “I do” at least once before, sometimes several times. 

Figure 12.14 The Marital History of U.S. Brides and Grooms

How do remarriages work out? If there is no blended family—no children being brought into the new marriage—the divorce rate is about the same as that of first marriages. But bringing children into a marriage adds stress, and these couples are more likely to divorce (MacDonald and DeMaris 1995). One problem is that these families lack clear norms: They have to work out how they are related to one another and what their relationships require. Names indicate how awkward their relationships are: What do step-mother, step-father, step-brother, step-sister, and so on mean? These terms represent ill-defined relationships (Cherlin 1989). Perhaps the “real” family happens when step-mother becomes Mom and step-father becomes Dad.