Family structure homogamy: The effects of parental divorce on partner selection and marital stability

Although it is well established that the children of divorce are disproportionately likely to end their own marriages, relatively little is known about their marriage formation behavior. This paper uses data from the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the effects of parental family structure on spouse selection and marriage duration. People from divorced families often marry other children of divorce. This phenomenon, which I call family structure homogamy, persists across a variety of sociodemographic boundaries. In addition, I replicate earlier research by demonstrating that marriages between two children of divorce are especially likely to fail. These findings shed new light on the intergenerational transmission of divorce by showing that people from divorced families often marry under conditions that bode poorly for marital stability. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.