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Couples whose marriages dissolved during a five year period of a longitudinal fertility study of family growth patterns in the Detroit area show marked differences compared to those who remained married. Data are based on intensive home interviews with a cross-section sample of 1304 women at important family life stages, taken prior to the time of marital disruption. Couples divorced or permanently separated in the subsequent five year period were lower in socioeconomic status than those remaining married, and were also distinctive in fertility patterns. The disparities between aspiration and actuality, marital role perception and role performance, attitudes and actions, which characterize the dissolved marriages are of special interest.
Coombs et al. (Wed,) studied this question.