Second Marriages Are More Likely to Fail Than First Marriages for This Surprising Reason

Arizona’s Sarah Carter* had high hopes when she said “I do” the second time around. After a short first marriage, she was a single working mother with two young kids when she married hubby number two. He looked great on paper: A handsome and intelligent engineer, he was fun to be with, especially when they traveled. Sadly, their marriage broke up after eleven years.
Whether divorced or widowed, many brides and grooms, like Carter, see a second marriage as a second chance for happiness. In fact, thanks to pent up post-Covid demand, more couples walked down the aisle in the US last year than in the past 35 years, for a record 2.5 million weddings, according to research firm The Wedding Report. Of those, about 21 percent involved both spouses marrying for the second time.
So, are things better the second time around? Often, they’re not. According to available Census data, the divorce rate for second marriages in the United States is more than 60% compared to the not inconsiderable 50% for first ones.
Second Marriages Are More Likely to Fail Than First Marriages for This Surprising Reason