Families under stress : an assessment of data, theory, and research on marriage and divorce in the military

The authors estimate marriage and marital dissolution trends from 1996 to 2005, and the effects of recent deployments on risk of ending a marriage. Marital dissolution rates across services and components are currently similar to those seen in 1996, when the demands on the military were measurably lower. Service members who were deployed had a lower risk of subsequently ending their marriages than those who did not deploy or deployed fewer days. Recent demands on the military have raised concerns about the impact of extended deployments on military marriages. To evaluate this impact, the authors draw on marital status data in service personnel records to estimate trends in marriage and marital dissolution between 1996 and 2005 and the specific effects of time deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq on subsequent risk of ending a marriage. The results generally run counter to expectations. Although rates of marital dissolution have increased since 2001 for most services and components, they had declined in the five years prior to 2001. As a result, marital dissolution rates across the services and components are currently similar to those observed in 1996, when the demands on the military were measurably lower. In most cases, service members who were deployed had a lower risk of subsequently ending their marriages than service members who did not deploy or deployed fewer days. 'Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.'