Divorce and REmarriage

1
Divorce and REmarriage
2
Support for Children and Spouses

• Provisions for support for children and spouse
  have changed
• Only wives could qualify for alimony if they had
  not contributed to the marriage breakdown through
  adultery, cruelty or desertion.
• The 1985 Divorce Act changed this
• Both spouses are obliged to share the financial
  cost of child-rearing.

3
Support cont

• Factors to consider how long the couple lived
  together, and the family and support roles each
  played while married.
• The practice of minimizing support payments to
  facilitate remarriage.
• A spouses human capital time, effort and
  support invested hard to quantify.
• Increased pressure on spouses, especially women.
  

4
Child Support cont

• Between 50 and 75 percent of father fail to
  comply fully with court-ordered child support
  payments in a given year.
• Support payments made through provincial
  government
• Inadequate staffing leads to inconsistent and
  delayed enforcement.

5
Child Custody and Access

• Custody refers to.
• Legal Custody
• Physical Custody
• Joint Custody
• Divided Custody

6
Divorce and its After Effects

• The spouse who has ample resources adapts more
  successfully.
• Divorce is easier when
• No dependent children
• A couple does share any assets
• The marriage has been brief, less than five
  years.

7
After Effects cont

• Divorce stressful when
• Children still at home
• Sharing of home and other assets
• Habits need changing
• Older couple
• Sharing of all friends
• Ill in health
• Friends are lost
• Loss in financial resources

8
Social Networks after Divorce

• Loss of in-law kin system until remarriage
• Single mothers and smaller network
• Women lost more friends after divorce
• Mutual friends remained with husband after
  divorce
• Less social activities for women
• Fathers received more offers for help

9
Social Networks after Divorce

• Workplace is an important source of moral support
• Married men less threatened by divorced male
  friends vs. married women and divorced female
  friends.
• The social inequities based on gender and
  coupling status.

10
How Does Divorce Affect Children?

• Onset of developmental disorders and divorce
• Renegotiation of relationships and changes after
  divorce
• Academic achievement and divorce
• Behavioural and emotional problems
• Relationships with parents

11
Affects on Children

• Higher cohabitation rates and divorce rates
• Remarriage and Step-Families
• 58 percent of divorced women and 70 percent of
  men remarry

12
Effects of Divorce cont

• Girls become immobilized in personal
  relationships- fear of commitment.
• Feeling of responsibility
• Parental conflict- childrens adjustment

13
New Beginnings cont

• Mental health, self-esteem, school performance,
  and confidence.
• Loss of a parent, no matter how, is the single
  most important predictor of psychopathology
• Adult men and adult womens experiences.
• Wallersteins study of divorced families

14
The Aftermath of Remarriage of a Spouse

• Remarriage increases the quality of life
• The simplest form of remarriage
• Life in remarriage with children from previous
  unions
• The Stepmother and Stepfather family
• The complex Stepfamily
• The unrealistic expectations of stepfamilies

15
Relationships Ending and New Beginnings on
Children

• Victims of family break up and the most
  vulnerable members of the family.
• The benefits of divorce on children
• Empathetic, independent, and egalitarian
  attitudes, etc
• The negative effects
• Problems in adjustment, afraid to be alone,
  psychological counselling.

16
Remarriage effects

• Increased substance abuse, greater delinquency,
  high rates of suicide
• Five basic principles that explain adjustment
• 1. Individual Risk and Vulnerability
• 2. Family Composition
• 3. Stress
• 4. Parental Distress
• 5. Disrupted Family Process

17
Remarriage cont

• Intervals between divorce and remarriage
• Childrens attitudes- mothers remarriage and
  premarital sex attitudes
• Reduced enthusiasm for marriage
• Not always negative consequences
• Increased flexibility and improved interpersonal
  skills.