Understanding the Divorce Cycle: The Children of Divorce in their Own Marriages

by Nicholas H. Wolfinger

• ISBN13: 9780521851169
• ISBN10: 0521851165
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-07-11
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Growing up in a divorced family leads to a variety of difficulties for adult offspring in their own partnerships. One of the best known and most powerful is the divorce cycle, the transmission of divorce from one generation to the next. This book examines how the divorce cycle has transformed family life in contemporary America by drawing on two national data sets. Compared to people from intact families, the children of divorce are more likely to marry as teenagers, but less likely to wed overall, more likely to marry people from divorced families, more likely to dissolve second and third marriages, and less likely to marry their live-in partners. Yet some of the adverse consequences of parental divorce have abated even as divorce itself proliferated and became more socially accepted. Taken together, these findings show how parental divorce is a strong force in people's lives and society as a whole.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
1 Introduction	1	(10)
Marriage and Divorce: Coexisting American Institutions	2	(3)
Divorce and Public Policy	5	(1)
Outline of Book	6	(2)
Data	8	(1)
Toward a Balanced Portrait of the Divorce Cycle	9	(2)
2 Why Divorce Begets Divorce	11	(24)
Father Absence	12	(2)
Institutionalized Inequality: Racism, Poverty, and Family Structure	14	(3)
Toward a Better Explanation	17	(1)
Predivorce Differences	17	(2)
Context and Community	19	(2)
Socioeconomic Explanations	21	(4)
Genetic Differences	25	(1)
Parental Conflict	26	(1)
Role Modeling Redux	27	(3)
Parental Divorce and Offspring Marital Problems	30	(3)
From Family of Origin to Marital Dissolution	33	(2)
3 Coupling and Uncoupling	35	(18)
The Demography of Marriage	36	(2)
Why Parental Divorce Affects Offspring Marriage Timing	38	(2)
How Parental Divorce Affects Offspring Marriage Timing	40	(2)
Why the Children of Divorce Have High Rates of Teenage Marriage	42	(2)
Explaining Low Overall Marriage Rates for the Children of Divorce	44	(1)
Parental Divorce and Partner Selection: Family Structure Homogamy	45	(2)
How Parental Divorce Affects Partner Selection	47	(4)
Conclusion	51	(2)
4 How Strong Is the Divorce Cycle?	53	(23)
How Strong Is the Divorce Cycle?	55	(1)
Differences by Family Type	56	(4)
Parental Divorce, Social Background, and Respondent Characteristics	60	(3)
How Social Background and Respondent Characteristics Affect the Divorce Cycle	63	(4)
Can Unwed Motherhood Explain the Divorce Cycle?	67	(2)
Red Herrings	69	(2)
Multiple Marriages and Multiple Divorces	71	(2)
Conclusion	73	(3)
5 Historical Developments	76	(17)
How Divorce Changed in the Twentieth Century	77	(4)
Explaining Trends in Marriage Timing for the Children of Divorce	81	(1)
How Has the Marital Behavior of People from Divorced Families Changed over Time?	82	(1)
Why Marriage Rates Have Declined	83	(2)
Explaining Trends in the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce	85	(2)
How Much Has the Divorce Cycle Abated?	87	(4)
Conclusion	91	(2)
6 The Cohabitation Revolution	93	(12)
How Marriage and Cohabitation Differ	94	(3)
How Parental Divorce Affects Cohabiting Relationships	97	(5)
Conclusion	102	(3)
7 Conclusion	105	(22)
Parental Divorce and Offspring Marital Behavior: A Life Span Chronology	107	(9)
Marriage Timing	107	(1)
Mate Selection	108	(1)
What Makes the Divorce Cycle Stronger? Or Weaker?	109	(3)
Historical Trends	112	(3)
Parental Divorce and Offspring Cohabiting Relationships	115	(1)
Limitations	116	(1)
The Divorce Reform Movement in America	116	(4)
The Argument for No-Fault Laws	120	(4)
Mixed Blessings	124	(3)
Appendix A: Data and Methods	127	(15)
Data	127	(1)
Survey Weights and Clustering	128	(1)
Measuring Family of Origin	129	(3)
Socioeconomic Variables	132	(1)
Temporal Variables	133	(2)
Miscellaneous Variables	135	(1)
Missing Data	135	(1)
Analysis	135	(7)
Chapter 3	135	(2)
Chapter 4	137	(2)
Chapter 5	139	(2)
Chapter 6	141	(1)
Appendix B: Evaluating the Role of Marriage Differentials in the Weakening Divorce Cycle	142	(3)
Notes	145	(14)
Bibliography	159	(18)
Index	177