Redivorce Following Remarriage

This paper examines the use of the often quoted remarriage studies done in the 50s by Monahan. It was found that extreme caution should be used in presentations where the redivorce rate is discussed. The current statistics certainly do not paint the bleak picture presented by Monahan. Surprisingly, when 28 current family texts were sampled for their treatment of remarriage, it was found that most do not even address the topic, and of those who do, most present the older and misleading Monahan data. It is suggested in the paper that researchers, educators, and counselors need an accurate view of the risk of remarriage following divorce, since most of those who divorce do remarry. Also, the suggestion was made that the traditional family form may not be in as much of a decline as some report. Most people stay married; of those who divorce, most (68%) have either one child or none, and most remarry.