Couples who choose to have more than four children may increase their risk of divorce, a Brigham Young University researcher reports in the February issue of the journal Demography.
While past studies have shown that the presence of children is a deterrent to divorce, Tim B. Heaton, associate professor of sociology at BYU, says he found this to be true only "to a point."Based on the statistics of 40,000 women, Heaton found that having a "moderately large family" of three to four children reduces the risk of divorce by about half.
"As we expected," said Heaton, "there is increased stability in a marriage following the arrival of children. But the stabilizing force of children is greatest when the family size is not too large," or no more than four children.
Heaton's study, using marital and fertility histories from the June 1985 Current Population Survey, showed that couples with one child have divorce rates about 24 percent lower than childless couples. The rate drops even further to 37 percent lower than childless couples after the birth of a second child and 44 percent lower after the third child. The effect of having a fourth child was identical to that of having a third child.
As family size reaches five or more children, marital stability begins to decline. Although the divorce rate for parents with more than four children is lower than that for childless couples, it is higher than that for couples with two, three or four children.
Information is not sufficient to detect the exact family size at which divorce begins to increase. Yet the nearly identical divorce rates for couples with three and four children, Heaton said, "suggest that any number beyond three would not enhance marital stability."
In addition, Heaton found that there is a "honeymoon" effect after a baby's birth, which also diminishes in length with each child. In other words, he said, the arrival of children appears to deter divorce, especially in the first year or so following the birth. "The effect of each subsequent child, however, is smaller than for the preceding child."
One theory as to why marital stability increases with children is that they add something positive to a family and also create dependency in marriage. Heaton said the general shift in the past two decades from moderate (three to four) to smaller families (one to two) and increased childlessness may account for some of the upswing in divorce rates.
The fact that there is an upturn in divorce after four children, Heaton said, suggest that stress factors are also present. "We all know that there are many good things about having children, but at the same time, they can also be disruptive. I certainly wouldn't advise a couple suffering marital conflict to have another baby."
Yet Heaton pointed out that only a minute number of separated couples ever blame their children for the divorce. "What this study shows is that the demands placed on parents with large families and the associated decline in marital satisfaction may detract from stability," he said.
Not surprisingly, Heaton also found that as children reach the teenage years, the risk of divorce increases. The most stable period comes when children have reached adulthood. "Perhaps couples who have been able to survive the rigors of child-rearing have forged a relationship that can weather subsequent challenges."