MARITAL INSTABILITY AFTER MIDLIFE

Divorce in later life has been shown to produce dramatic declines in t he economic, psychological, and physical well-being of marital partner s. This study examines the prevalence and determinants of marital disr uption after midlife using Becker's theory of marital instability. Usi ng recent Canadian national data, the marital outcomes of women and me n who were married as of age 40 are tracked across the remaining years of the marriage. Cox proportional hazard regression models indicate s tabilizing effects of the duration of the marriage, the age at first m arriage, the presence of young children, as well as of remarriage for middle-aged and older persons. Other significant risk factors include education, heterogamous marital status, premarital cohabitation, numbe r of siblings, and region.