Publication year
2008
Citation Title
Divorce, race, and military service: More than equal pay and equal opportunity.
Journal Name
Journal of Marriage and Family
Journal Volume
70
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
1030-1044
DOI
10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00544.x
Summary
An examination of the risk of divorce among enlisted Active Duty military Service members by race and socioeconomic level was conducted. This study utilized data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY-79). Overall findings indicate that military service reduces the likelihood of marriage dissolution among Blacks serving in the Army.
Key Findings
For White Active Duty military Service members findings do not demonstrate an effect of military service on the risk of marital dissolution.
There is no evidence that the risk of divorce varies according the branch of military in which a man served.
Black men serving in the Army are 46% less likely to end their marriages than Black men with no experience in the military.
Implications for Program Leaders
Develop online modules that focus on relationship building and communication for Service members and their partners
Focus on the military family unit by providing activities that support the relationship between parents as well as between parent and child
Provide pre- and post-deployment relationship education workshops for military couples
Implications for Policy Makers
Promote reintegration programs that include attention to the healthiness of a Service members’ marriage
Encourage awareness among professionals working with Service members’ families and communities about the effects of stressful experiences on the well-being of Service members and their relationships
Recommend collaboration between DoD programs and local community organizations to support programs for Service members and their families that address positive relationships
Methods
Participants were interviewed a maximum of 21 times over a period spanning 25 years (interviews were annual through 1994, biennial thereafter).
Factors such as whether a man is currently serving on Active or Reserve Duty, is currently a veteran of Active Duty service, or is currently a veteran of reserve-duty service are accounted for as well as race, military branch and income.
Data analysis controlled for a number of factors related to the risk of divorce such as education level and number of children. Overall the analysis looked at participants’ likelihood of divorce by race and military branch.
Participants
Men who served as enlisted members (both Active Duty and Reserve) of the military primarily during the late 1970s and the 1980s (a few men served into the 1990s).
Men who married for the first time between the years 1979 and 2004 were included in the study.
The study does not provide the number of participants or any other descriptive data.
Limitations
The data set only included Active Duty and Reserve military men; therefore, results are not generalizable to women serving in the military.
Data analyzed were collected over a fifteen year time period time starting in 1979 from Active Duty and Reserve military men, which may be less applicable to today’s current military context.
While monitoring of the data of those who exited or entered the military occurred in the analysis of the data, this population may have been different than those who remained in the military or civilian population and as such affected the outcomes of the study.
Avenues for Future Research
Explore the association between military families’ stress (e.g., financial, relocation, deployment) and divorce rate
Engage in process-oriented and longitudinal studies that help determine the factors that contribute to marital quality and stability over time in military marriages
Investigate dual-military couples and the degree to which they are at increased risk for lower marital quality and divorce
Focus
Army
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Several researchers have suggested that the persistently higher rate of divorce among Blacks may be due to hard-to-measure concepts such as culture or norms. To attack this problem, we use data from the NLSY-79 to examine the risk of divorce among enlisted active-duty military servicemen where economic differences and the negative effects of discrimination are minimized. Our results indicate that military service reduces the likelihood of marital dissolution among Blacks serving in the Army and that this finding is not likely the result of unobserved selectivity. We attribute the latter finding to the fact that the Army has a well-defined career ladder for Blacks that fully integrates them into leadership positions providing role models and positive work environments that reduce stress associated with discrimination and promote stable marriages.
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