An increasing number of people are entering the marriage market for a second or third time following a relationship breakdown… and an increasing number of them will not marry or cohabit again.

A study by Anne-Rigt Poortman for the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research has shown that the last few decades have seen considerable changes in the marriage market.

“After a separation or divorce the chances of marrying or cohabiting again decrease,” she said. “In particular, a previous marriage or children from a previous relationship, reduce the chances of a new relationship… particularly for women.”

Previous experiences also appear to influence the success of the next relationship. Norwegian data reveal that people who have [tag]experienced a divorce[/tag] – whether from marriage or cohabiting – are more likely to divorce again.

Yet, as soon as former cohabitants marry, the chance of them divorcing is actually slightly lower than for that of people in their first marriage.

Although separated or divorced people still want a partner just as much, they have a stronger preference for less committed types of relationships such as a living-apart-together relationship or unmarried cohabitation.

Divorcees in particular would rather not live with a partner, whereas people who have only cohabited in the past still want that. Previous divorce experiences affect the preferences of women more profoundly than those of men.

She said that once such survivors re-enter the relationship market they meet a wide range of singles; some of them have children from a previous marriage, others have only cohabited and others have never had a relationship.

Poortman says that a possible explanation for the negative impact of previous experiences might be that people are more cautious following a divorce.

Women and older people without divorce experiences more frequently have a divorced partner, whereas for divorcees both men and younger people more frequently have a new partner without a relationship history.

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