Divorce and Remarriage
Occupational hazard

In Discussion Paper No. 140, Research Fellow John Ermisch considers the influences of socioeconomic phenomena on marital dissolution and remarriage, based on the demographic and work histories in the 1980 Women and Employment Survey. Ermisch finds that the likelihood of marital breakdown varies with age at marriage and timing of childbearing: this is consistent with previous research. But his study is the first to investigate the impact of women's work experience on marital dissolution and remarriage in Britain. It indicates that although work experience increases the risk of marital dissolution, it is also associated with quicker remarriage. Current patterns of divorce and remarriage mean that divorced women who remain heads of one- parent families tend to be older, to have less earning capacity and to have larger families.

John Ermisch discussed this work at a lunchtime meeting reported more fully in this Bulletin.


The Economics of the Family: Applications to Divorce and Remarriage
John Ermisch

Discussion Paper No. 140, November 1986 (HR)