Married Once, Twice, and Three or More Times: Data From the American Community Survey

Abstract

Some people might marry more than once in their lifetime. The demographic characteristics of groups by number of marriages have received little attention. As there is limited knowledge about how demographic profiles differ by number of remarriages, this descriptive report offers detailed tabulations of basic demographic characteristics by number of marriages. The logistic regression predicting the likelihood of having 2 or more marriages in a sample of ever married adults (age > 21) complements the project. By using data from the single-year American Community Survey 2010 Public Use Microdata Sample file, it is found that about 20% of the population reports being married more than once. Regression results indicate that educational attainment, race or ethnic status, age, nativity, disability, and personal income are all associated with the probability of experiencing multiple marriages. Future efforts should continue to provide descriptive characteristics of the population by number of marriages to better understand population-level trends.