Divorce Statistics and Studies Blog

Comprehensive review of scholarship finds increasing consensus: divorce mostly bad for children

"Trends in Scholarly Writing on Family Structure Since 1977 in the Journal of Marriage and Family"

By Norval Glenn and Thomas Sylvester

The article not only synthesizees every related article in the leading journal on these issues, it also looks at earlier such "synthetic" articles, which encompassed studies published in other journals as well.

Remarriage/cohabitation transitions are hard on children

Link: Johns Hopkins Gazette article about Fomby and Cherlin, "Family Instability and Child Well-Being," American Sociological Review, April, 2007.

Divorce effects last for decades in families

LONG LASTING EFFECTS OF DIVORCE
[From the Smart Marriages listserv, posting "Military Marriages/UK Marriage Rate/Effects of Divorce/Candidate Watch - 2/23/07"] 
> Children of Divorce Still Feel Effects Twenty Years Later
> February 22, 2007 >
FamilyResults of Parental Relationships Seen Across Multiple Generations > >
Los Angeles - infoZine -
A new study has shown that the effects of divorce on > children may last for decades, influencing family relationships across > multiple generations. Parental conflict, remarriage and long-term parental > absence due to divorce can each have long-term effects on children. The study > appears in the March issue of Family Process.

Additional info on effects and correlates of divorce

To get complete information and citations, you should also review the Divorce Statistics Collection’s page on your topic:
Correlations with Other Factors: Age | Alcoholic parents | Children of Divorce Getting Divorced
| Cohabitation | Current Events| Gender of Children | Laws |   Marriage education programs | Occupation | Poverty | Race | Region | Religion |  Smoking | Unrealistic Expectations 
Effects on Society: Domestic Violence | Social-Economic-Taxpayer Costs | Effects on Black Community
Effects on Divorced People: Domestic Violence | Economic | Happiness | Physical and Mental Health
Effects on Children: Generally | Child Abuse | Poverty | Crime | Crime | Physical Health | Mental Health/Behavioral | Social Skills/Adjustment | Suicide | Teen & single parenthood | Exposure to family conflict | Stepfamilies | African American Children
Other:  Summary of Our Findings So Far| Causes of individual divorces