Nearly 40% of all marriages in the United States are remarriages for one or both partners. Over the last four decades, the number of remarried adults in the United States has tripled. This trend is not limited to the United States; relatively high rates of remarriage can be seen in Canada and throughout European countries. People remarry, and they do so rather quickly. In the United States, the average length of time between divorce and remarriage is less than 4 years, though 80% of adults begin dating and 30% marry within the first year after a marital breakup.

[Page 1841]Compared with first-married couples, remarried couples are more likely to divorce. The higher divorce rate of higher order marriages (60%, compared to 40–50% of first marriages) has ...