Marriage, Family, & Stepfamily Facts
Updated Sept 2008

Spotlight Statistics (See References at the end of this page for details)   To Understand the Prevalence of Stepfamilies “Think Thirds”: Approximately one-third of all weddings in America today form stepfamilies (demographic estimate, Deal). In 2001, 38% of all US marriages were remarriages for one or both partners (15% for both; 23% for one) (Wendy Manning, personal communication Jan 2010, National Center for Family and Marriage Research). One-third of individuals who got divorced in 2008 were redivorcing, that is, divorcing again (Wendy Manning, personal communication Jan 2010, National Center for Family and Marriage Research). Only about one-third of stepfamily marriages last until death do them part (60% of second marriages and 73% of third marriages end in divorce; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006)   Other Notable Statistics: There are between 11-18 million stepmothers in the US today (married or cohabiting; does not include adult stepfamilies—see Endnote 2). There are 35 million Americans in the US today who are remarried. There are an additional 36 million Americans who are divorced or widowed (possibly finding themselves in a remarriage at some point) (US Census, 2007). Serial transitions in and out of marriage/divorce/cohabitation is now typical of family life in the US but has significant consequences for children (Cherlin, 2009). 1.    Americans marry, divorce, and cohabit more than any Western society. They also start and stop relationships more quickly. 2.    Children living with two married parents in the US have a higher risk of experiencing a family breakup than do children living with two unmarried parents in Sweden. 3.    10% of women in the US have had three or more marriages, divorces, or cohabiting partners...by age 35 (the next highest industrialized nation is Sweden at 4.5%). 4.    16% of persons born after 1970 will marry, divorce, remarry, and redivorce. 5.    By age 15, 29% of US children experience two or more mother partnerships (either marriage or cohabitation). 6.    The more parental partnerships (transitions in and out of couple relationships) that children experience, the lower their over-all emotional, psychological, and academic well-being.   See reference details below.

Special thanks goes to friends David H. Olson, PhD. and Amy Olson-Sigg for compiling many of these statistics.  Visit www.prepare-enrich.com.

Statistics are divided into these topics:

1. Marriage
2. Preparation for Marriage
3. Benefits of Marriage
4. Family Structure is Becoming More Complex
5. Cohabitation
6. Divorce
7. Strong Marriages and Families
8. Remarriage & Stepfamilies

Endnotes

References

MARRIAGE

• 85% of the U.S. population will marry at least once.  (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006)
• Approximately one-third of all weddings in America today form stepfamilies.  (see ENDNOTE 1, Deal, 2005)
• Of the 2.3 million marriages in 2006, about half (53%) took place in a religious setting.  (PREPARE/ENRICH E-Newsletter, 2007)
• While the average cost of a wedding is $27,500, less than a third of first marriage couple seek premarital preparation and less than 25% of pre-stepfamily couples do (see the section on Preparation for Marriage).
• Age at first marriage has been on the increase for more than four decades.  In 1960, the median age for a first marriage was 22.8 years for men and 20.3 for women.  In 2005 the median age for first marriage was 27 years for men and 26 years for women.  (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2005) 

• Over the past forty years, marriage has become less common and more fragile.  Between 1970 and 2005, the proportion of children living with two married parents dropped from 85% to 68% (US Census Bureau, 2005).  Also, the percentage of two-parent families varies by ethnic/cultural group: 87% of Asian children live in two-parent homes; 76% of Caucasians; 70% of Hispanics; and 42% of African American. (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006)
• Almost 20 million Americans—about 9.9%  of the U.S. population—are currently divorced ( U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006); 25% of all Americans have been divorced at some point (Barna, 2008. Used with permission.).
• People marrying today have a 50% chance of divorcing.  Statistically, 40% of first marriages, 60% of second, and 73% of third marriages end in divorce.  (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006) 
• About 75% of those who divorce will eventually remarry.  (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006)
• Closeness with either a biological or step-father is associated with a decrease in the likelihood that an adolescent boy will expect someday to divorce.  (Risch, Jodi & Eccles, 2004)
• Religious attendance is positively correlated with higher G.P.A.’s for teens. (Fagen, 2006)
• Couples who agree on spiritual beliefs report significantly higher marital satisfaction and couple closeness than couples who are low on spiritual agreement.  (Larson & Olson, 2004). 
• For adults, a stable, happy marriage is the best protector against illness and premature death, and for children, such a marriage is the best source of emotional stability and good physical health.  Decades of research have clearly established these links (Burman & Margolin, 1992; Dawson, 1991; Verbrugge, 1979).
• Divorce is a major health risk for American adults and children.  In addition to well-established links between divorce and mental health problems, adults who experience divorce more than double their risk of earlier mortality.  On the average, adults who divorce and children who experience a parental divorce have their life expectancy shortened by an average of four years, according to a fifty-year longitudinal study (Dawson, 1991; Cherlin et al., 1991; Doherty & Needle, 1991; Tucker et al., 1996; Schwartz et al., 1995).
• Marriage education is effective in promoting marital quality and stability.  Well-researched marriage education programs have demonstrated that brief, skills-based educational programs for couples increase couple satisfaction, improve communication skills, reduce negative conflict behaviors including violence, and may prevent separation and divorce (Markman et al., 1993; Wampler, 1990).
• Single-parent families rose to an all-time high in 2005 to 37% of families.  (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006)  

PREPARATION FOR MARRIAGE

• Premarital preparation can reduce divorce rate by 30%. (Stanley, Amato, Johnson & Markman,2006)
• A recent meta-analysis of 11 experimental studies found significant differences favoring couples who received premarital education.  The overall effect size was very large (.80), representing a 79% improvement in all marital outcomes compared to couples who did not receive premarital education.  (Carroll & Doherty, 2003) 
• Couples who participate in a premarital program (PREPARE) significantly increased their couple satisfaction.  In a recent outcome study, couples improved in 10 out of 13 relationship categories.  (Knutson & Olson, 2003)  NOTE: The PREPARE profile can now we taken online as the Couple Checkup. 
• Most couples in stepfamilies don’t seek premarital preparation.  Less than 25% of couples in a series of studies sought relationship or educational opportunities to discuss their upcoming marriage.  Less than half read a book or magazine article about remarriage or stepparenting.  (Ganong & Colman, 2004).
• People remarry quickly.  On average people remarry within four years of their divorce and 30% remarry within a year.  In addition, since two-thirds of couples cohabit before remarriage, the time between divorce, cohabitation, and remarriage is indeed short.  (Ganong & Colman, 2004).

BENEFITS OF MARRIAGE

• Children from homes where the biological parents are married tend to be more academically successful, more emotionally stable, and more often assume leadership roles.  (Waite & Gallagher, 2000; Manning & Lamb, 2003)   
• Adolescents living with their biological parents are less likely to have sexual intercourse.  (Pearson, Frisco, 2006; Sieving, Eisenberg, Pettingell, & Skay, 2006) 
• Two-parent households protect children from the negative effects of poverty.  In the U.S., nearly 60% of the children from single-parent households live in poverty, as compared to only 11% of children from two-parent families. (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006)
• Adolescents living with both biological parents exhibit lower levels of problem behavior than peers from any other family type.  (Carlson, 2006) 

• Males whose parents never married are significantly less likely to marry and more likely to cheat on their romantic partners.  (Colman & Widon, 2004)

FAMILY STRUCTURE IS BECOMING MORE COMPLEX

• Single-parent families rose to an all-time high in 2005 to 37% of families.  (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006)
• More than a third of all US children are now born outside of wedlock, including 25% of non-Hispanic white babies, 46% of Hispanic babies, and 69% of African-American babies.  (US Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey)
• The percentage of two-parent families varies by ethnic/cultural group:  87% of Asian children live in two-parent homes; 76% of Caucasians; 70% of Hispanics; and 42% of African American. (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006)
• Family fragmentation (divorce and nonmarital births) costs U.S. taxpayers at least $112 billion each year, or over $1 trillion dollars per decade.  This estimate includes the costs of federal, state, and local government programs and foregone tax revenues at all levels of government.  (Full report available here: The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing)

COHABITATION

• More than half of all couples cohabit before marriage. The number of cohabiting couples has increased 800% since the 1960’s, when fewer than 500,000 couples were cohabiting. In 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 6.8 million couples were cohabiting.

• Cohabiting before marriage is related to more frequent arguments during marriage as well as a greater perceived risk of separation and divorce when compared to couples who did not live together prior to marriage.  (Hill & Evans, 2006)
• Couples who cohabit before remarriage report lower levels of happiness in their marriage than remarried couples who did not cohabit. (Xu, Hudspeth & Bartkowsk, 2006)
• 40% of all children will live in a cohabiting home at some point.  (Parke, 2007)

DIVORCE

• People marrying today have a 50% chance of divorcing.  Statistically, 40% of first marriages, 60% of second, and 73% of third marriages end in divorce.  (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006) 
• About 75% of those who divorce will eventually remarry.  (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006)
• Of the marriages that survive divorce, the quality of some of those may be poor.  (Popenoe & Whitehead, 1999b)
• The “seven year itch” is often scratched.  Couples separate on average seven years after marriage and divorce after eight.  (PREPARE/ENRICH E-Newsletter, 2007)
• After 10 years of marriage, it is predicted that only 25% of couples will still be happily married (Glenn,1996)
• Most divorces involve children, and more than 1 million children are affected by divorce each year (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006).  40% of children will witness their parents divorce before reaching adulthood (Amato, 2000).
• Of all Americans who have ever been married one-third have divorced at least once.  (Barna, 2008. Used with permission.)
• 26% of evangelicals have been divorced and 33% of non-evangelical Christians have been divorced (over 80% were Christians before the divorce); further, when evangelicals and non-evangelicals are groups together, the number divorced is statistically identical to that of non-born again adults (32% versus 33% respectively).  George Barna commented on the study: "There no longer seems to be much of a stigma attached to divorce; it is now seen as an unavoidable rite of passage."  "Interviews with young adults suggest that they want their initial marriage to last, but are not particularly optimistic about that possibility. There is also evidence that many young people are moving toward embracing the idea of serial marriage, in which a person gets married two or three times, seeking a different partner for each phase of their adult life."  (Barna, 2008. Used with permission.)

STRONG MARRIAGES AND FAMILIES

• A large national sample (n=50,000) of married couples who completed a couple inventory (ENRICH) found the top five categories most predictive of marital happiness were:  Communication, Flexibility, Couple Closeness, Personality Compatibility and Conflict Skills.  (see The Couple Checkup: Finding Your Strengths, by David H. Olson, Amy Olson-Sigg, and Peter J. Larson, Thomas Nelson, release date June, 2008.)  A similar study of over 50,000 couples creating stepfamilies (marriage with children from previous relationships) found the top five categories most predictive of marital happiness were: Personality Compatibility, Communication, Conflict Resolution, Shared Leisure, and Couple Flexibility.  (see The Remarriage Checkup: Tools to Make Your Marriage Last a Lifetime, by Ron L. Deal and David H. Olson, January, 2010).
• Closeness with either a biological or step-father is associated with a decrease in the likelihood that an adolescent boy will expect someday to divorce.  (Risch, Jodi & Eccles, 2004)
• Religious attendance is positively correlated with higher G.P.A.’s for teens. (Fagen, 2006)
• Couples who agree on spiritual beliefs report significantly higher marital satisfaction and couple closeness than couples who are low on spiritual agreement.  (Larson & Olson, 2004).