Divorces and remarriage in Brazil: revelations from vital statistics (1986-2006)

Glaucia Santos Marcondes, Universidade Federal da Bahia
Humberto Corrêa, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)

This work discusses the trends of divorce and remarriage in Brazil from 1986 to 2006, exploring information from the Brazilian Vital Statistics. In this period we observed a continuous increase in the rates of divorce, from 33.1 to 212.6 divorces per 1,000 marriages. About 70% of the divorces involve couples with children who, in majority, are under the age of 18 years old and remain under the mother`s custody. The proportion of divorced men who married again is higher than divorced women. In 2000, the remarriage ratio indicated there were 32.1 remarriage men to 1,000 people divorced and widowed and 10.6 remarried women. This reflects on the composition of families. In 2000, there were 13.7% single female parent families and only 1.7% single male parent. Given the increase of these events become important more studies about marital trajectories to allow a better understanding of new forms of family organization.