Love at second sight: remarriages in Turkish and Moroccan communities in Belgium

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper provides insight into remarriages amongst Turkish and Moroccan Belgians. Although the issue of remarriage is of particular relevance, given the rising divorce rates that have been observed amongst these groups in recent decades, it remains largely understudied. We examine remarriage rates and patterns of partner choice in second marriages, taking into account partner-choice patterns in first marriages. We analysed data from the Belgian national register, using piecewise constant log-rate event-history analyses with effect coding on all first marriages that ended in divorce between 1 January 2001 and 1 January 2009. In the second phase of the analysis, which focuses on partner choice in the second marriage, we selected only those respondents who had remarried. Our results indicate that the recent transition in marital behaviour (e.g. lower levels of transnational marriage and higher levels of mixed marriages) has not (yet) been replicated in second marriages. Transnational remarriage is by far the most preferred partner choice, especially amongst former marriage migrants. Especially for them, the access to the local marriage market seems to be restricted, steering them towards the transnational marriage market.