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Rethinking Marriage Metabolism: The Declining Frequency of Marital Events in the United States

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  • Philip N. Cohen

    (University of Maryland)

Abstract

Previous research has used the concept of marriage metabolism to represent churning in the marriage system, but the measurements used to date have been inadequate. This paper addresses changes in the incidence of marital events in the United States from 2008 to 2021. I offer a measure, the Total Rate of Marital Events (TRME), of the projected lifetime experience of marital transitions (marriage, divorce, and widowhood) for life table cohorts. I find that the TRME declined steeply over this relatively short period: 22% for men and 19% for women. All three components declined in every age group below 90. The decline in divorce was most pronounced. More accurately than the term “retreat from marriage,” I describe the slowing churn of the marriage system as reflecting the diminished social presence of marriage in daily life. Rather than a retreat, this coincides with the increasingly selective status of married life. A higher status marriage system is a smaller, slower, and more stable marriage system.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip N. Cohen, 2023. "Rethinking Marriage Metabolism: The Declining Frequency of Marital Events in the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(5), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:42:y:2023:i:5:d:10.1007_s11113-023-09827-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-023-09827-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sheela Kennedy & Steven Ruggles, 2014. "Breaking Up Is Hard to Count: The Rise of Divorce in the United States, 1980–2010," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(2), pages 587-598, April.
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    4. Robert Schoen & Nicola Standish, 2001. "The Retrenchment of Marriage: Results from Marital Status Life Tables for the United States, 1995," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 27(3), pages 553-563, September.
    5. Joshua Goldstein, 1999. "The leveling of divorce in the united states," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(3), pages 409-414, August.
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