The dilemma of repartnering: Considerations of older men and women entering new intimate relationships in later life

摘要

A significant percentage of men and women aged fifty and over attain new partner relationships after divorce or widowhood. Partner relationships investigated in this article include remarriage, unmarried cohabitation, and Living Apart Together (LAT). Drawing on the Dutch NESTOR-LSN survey data (n=4,494) as well as in-depth reinterviewing of repartnered older adults (n=46), this article examines elderly people’s main considerations in the decision making process leading to remarriage, a consensual union, or a LAT relationship.