- Traditional families are no longer the norm –blended families are.
- 65% of families are blended families
- It’s been reported that the divorce rate for second marriages is high at 65% and 73% for third marriages; however, the statistics as reported by Shaunti Feldhahn and Tally Whitehead’s book The Good News About Marriage (2014) are:
- An estimated current rate of divorce for first marriages in the US is 20-25%; 31% for all marriages; 34% for remarriages (divorce section of smartstepfamilies.com statistics page)
- Because not all remarriages are step-couples, the current rate of divorce for stepfamilies is very difficult to determine. We have fewer studies and more inconsistent data on stepfamily divorce than any other population so an exact number is very difficult to calculate. However, based on the information provided in the book The Good News About Marriage and the research of Dr. Mavis Hetherington (2002), I am adjusting my numbers to the following: An estimated current divorce rate of stepfamily couples is roughly 45-50% and a projected divorce rate is roughly 50-60% (Deal, 2014).
- It should be noted that many reputable scholars still project that the overall divorce rate for all marriages to be between 40-50%. [This is a legitimate prediction based on certain assumptions about divorce trends and life-table analyses. Some scholars, pastors, teachers, etc. will prefer to use these numbers.
- Study’s on marriages with same-sex partners show similar patterns of relating and emotionality when compared to traditional families – if marriage were legal in every state then it would be logical to conclude that even same sex marriage would have a similar divorce rate as non-blended families.
- Marrying a widow / widower? Watch out for the friends; they can, and probably will, turn against you as the late partner can be pushed into “Sainthood” and no one ends up comparing to the deceased’s memory.
- Blended families have more stress than traditional marriages with couples having three times the amount of stress over first marriage couples. Rest assured the stress levels adjust and fall to normal levels found in traditional marriages. (stepfamily section of smartstepfamilies.com statistics page)
- African-Americans may have an easier time of adjusting to blended family life because of their historical culture of fictive kin (people with no biological ties to the family but are considered family regardless). White and Hispanic families do not have this cultural advantage.
