Volume 24 - Article 13 | Pages 293–312  

A note on race, ethnicity and nativity differentials in remarriage in the United States

By Catherine B. McNamee, R. Kelly Raley

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to produce up-to-date estimates of race/ethnic/nativity differentials for remarriage and repartnership among women in the United States and to see if these differences are due to across-group differences in demographic characteristics. First, we produce lifetable estimates of remarriage and repartnering for white, black, U.S. born Latina and foreign born Latina women. Next, we estimate race/ethnic/nativity differentials for remarriage and repartnership using event-history analysis with and without controls for demographic characteristics. The results suggest a continued overall decline in remarriage rates, while many women repartner by cohabitating. Whites are more likely than blacks or Latinas to remarry and they are also more likely to repartner. Race/ethnic/nativity differentials remain even after accounting for variations in demographic characteristics. This suggests that race/ethnic/nativity differentials in remarriage and repartnering rates, rather than ameliorating disadvantages associated with divorce, reinforce these differentials.

Author's Affiliation

• Catherine B. McNamee - University of Texas at Austin, United States of America EMAIL
• R. Kelly Raley - University of Texas at Austin, United States of America EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

The topography of the divorce plateau: Levels and trends in union stability in the United States after 1980
Volume 8 - Article 8

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