Illustrative analysis : marriage dissolution and remarriage in Sri Lanka and Thailand

This report quantitatively explores marriage dissolution and remarriage in Sri Lanka and Thailand, using data from 1975 Fertility Surveys of both countries. As a starting point, the author relies on the findings of James Russell (1980). Namely, marriage occurs earlier and over a narrower age range in Thailand; marriage is earlier in rural Sri Lanka and in north and northeast Thailand; and age at marriage is rising in both countries. He proceeds to employ life tables and linear models to determine incremental and cumulative dissolution and remarriage rates; the quality of the data posed no problems. Regression analysis was performed to observe the effects on marriage dissolution of education, age at marriage, residence, religion, work experience, and childbirth. The analysis showed that during the first 20 years of marriage, dissolution rates are twice as high in Thailand as in Sri Lanka. Marriage stability in Sri Lanka was highest among the educated and those who married at central (i.e., not high or low) ages. In Thailand, dissolution was highest for Moslem women who also, however, tended to be less educated, to marry younger, and to infrequently work before marriage - all factors which independently contribute to higher rates. For both countries, dissolution was higher among Moslems than Buddhists; urban marriages were more stable; work experience prior to marriage stabilized marriages among the young; and childbirth reduced dissolution in the first 2.5 years of marriage. Although rates of remarriage are higher in Thailand than in Sri Lanka, because women with the highest rate of dissolution re-enter marriage most quickly, time spent in unions and rates of fertility are essentially equal in the two countries. The author concludes that dissolution has little impact on birth rates in either country. Included in the report are 11 tables, 17 figures, and a list of 13 references (1958-80).