The U.S. divorce rate is at a 40-year low, except over 50, where it doubled in the last few decades.
“Gray divorce” is very often followed by “gray recoupling.” It turns out that later-life recouplers face the same challenges as their younger counterparts, often intensified by decades of family and social relationships.
In fact, 40% of older couples are part of a stepfamily!
The fastest rising percent of the population is over 65. So we have more and more long-time stepfamilies with adult children and grandchildren. Add gray recouplers and grandparents whose adult children have formed stepfamilies.
All of these older stepfamilies often face divisive issues of elder care, inheritance, etc.
Additional Reading
- Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships
Chapter 11. New Wrinkles: Stepfamilies in Later Life - The Stepfamily Handbook
Chapter 16 A New Wrinkle: Gray Recouplers - Recoupling in Mid-Life and Beyond: From Love at Last to Not So Fast (pdf)
Family Process 57(1), 52-69. DOI: 10.1111/famp.12315