不再關(guān)注離婚率 為何美國(guó)人再婚幾率上升

When it comes to love and marriage in the 21st century, if at first you don't succeed, there'stime to try, try again.

當(dāng)談到21世紀(jì)的戀愛(ài)和婚姻時(shí)，如果第一次以失敗告終，還有再?lài)L試一次或者更多次的機(jī)會(huì)。

The vast majority of older Americans have married at least once by the time they reach age50, Census data show. What's surprising is how many of them remarry: Roughly one in fourpeople born between 1945 and 1954 have married two times or more by 50.

美國(guó)人口普查局(Census)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，大多數(shù)美國(guó)老年人在步入50歲時(shí)已經(jīng)至少結(jié)過(guò)一次婚。令人驚訝的是其中有多少人再婚過(guò)：1945年至1954年期間出生的人中每四個(gè)人大概就有一個(gè)人到50歲時(shí)已經(jīng)結(jié)過(guò)兩次或者更多次婚了。

While exact numbers on second and third marriages are hard to come by, the share ofAmericans having them is significantly higher than it was before the 1960s, and has generallyplateaued since then, according to W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociology professor at the Universityof Virginia who studies marriage trends.

弗吉尼亞大學(xué)(University of Virginia)研究婚姻趨勢(shì)的社會(huì)學(xué)教授威爾科克斯(W. Bradford Wilcox)說(shuō)，盡管難以得到有過(guò)兩段和三段婚史的確切人數(shù)，但此類(lèi)美國(guó)人的數(shù)量已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于上世紀(jì)60年代前的水平，而且自那以來(lái)一直維持在高位。

Americans are waiting much longer to get married than they used to, thanks to factors rangingfrom women's improved educational opportunities to increased focus on careers to greateraccess to contraception. But this masks the fact that since people are living much longer thanthey did a century ago, they are actually marrying earlier in their overall lifetimes, leaving moretime for a second or third round of wedding bells.

如今美國(guó)人首次結(jié)婚年齡比過(guò)去延后了許多，受到女性教育機(jī)會(huì)改善、人們更加注重事業(yè)和避孕方式更多等因素影響。但這掩蓋了一個(gè)事實(shí)：由于人類(lèi)壽命比一個(gè)世紀(jì)前更長(zhǎng)了，如今人們首次結(jié)婚的年齡在一生中處在一個(gè)較以前更早的階段，所以有更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間來(lái)開(kāi)始第二段或者第三段婚姻。

Today, the typical American man marries for the first time when he is 29 years old--well abovethe historical low of 23 in 1956, but only three years older than in 1890, according to JonathanVespa, a Census demographer. Women have a similar pattern.

美國(guó)人口普查局的人口學(xué)家韋斯帕(Jonathan Vespa)說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在典型美國(guó)男性首次結(jié)婚的年齡是29歲，遠(yuǎn)高于1956年的歷史低點(diǎn)23歲，但只比1890年高出三歲。女性情況也類(lèi)似。

In 1890, however, a man's average life span was only 43 years--which means men weremarrying for the first time about halfway through their lives. American men today live untilabout 76, so they are marrying in the first third of their lives.

但在1890年，男性的平均壽命只有43年，這意味著他們首次結(jié)婚的年齡大概是在一生中的中段。如今美國(guó)男性的平均壽命大約為76年，所以他們首次結(jié)婚的年齡是在一生中的第一個(gè)三分之一階段。

Remarriage in the U.S. has dropped recently, partly because people are marrying later and moreare choosing to live together without marrying. In 1990, 50 of every 1,000 divorced or widowedAmericans remarried; this figure fell to 29 per 1,000 in 2011, says Mr. Wilcox, citing researchby sociologist Susan Brown of Bowling Green State University.

近期美國(guó)再婚率有所下降，這在一定程度上是因?yàn)槿藗兘Y(jié)婚的年齡推后了，而且有更多人選擇同居而不是結(jié)婚。威爾科克斯援引鮑林格林大學(xué)(Bowling Green State University)社會(huì)學(xué)家布朗(Susan Brown)的研究結(jié)果稱(chēng)，1990年，每1,000名離婚或者喪偶的美國(guó)人中有50人再婚;現(xiàn)在這個(gè)數(shù)字下降至每1,000個(gè)這樣的人中有29人再婚。

The divorce rate, which can be measured several ways, has been falling, though it remainsabove its early 1970s level. And some research shows Americans may be less happy about theirmarriages than they were in previous decades.

可以以多種方式衡量的離婚率一直在下降，但仍高于20世紀(jì)70年代初的水平。有研究顯示，美國(guó)人對(duì)婚姻的幸福感可能不及之前幾十年。

Education also matters a lot for how people perceive and approach marriage: A growingnumber of American women without college degrees are having their first child before they getmarried--leading to less family stability, Mr. Wilcox says.

威爾科克斯稱(chēng)，教育程度也對(duì)人們?nèi)绾握J(rèn)識(shí)和看待婚姻產(chǎn)生了重要影響：越來(lái)越多未接受過(guò)大學(xué)教育的美國(guó)女性未婚先孕，導(dǎo)致家庭穩(wěn)定度下降。

Still, the fact that Americans have two-thirds of their lives to remarry may help people get outof failed relationships and find new ones that make them happy--a kind of 'churn' similar to themovements in and out of jobs in the labor market that help make the overall economy moredynamic.

不過(guò)美國(guó)人一生當(dāng)中有三分之二的時(shí)間來(lái)選擇再婚，這一事實(shí)或許有助于人們擺脫失敗婚姻并找到新的幸福――這與就業(yè)市場(chǎng)中的人員流動(dòng)相似，可以使整體經(jīng)濟(jì)更具活力。

Lynne and Chuck Tonini are among those having a better time the second time around.

琳內(nèi)•托尼尼(Lynne Tonini)和查克•托尼尼(Chuck Tonini)就是在第二次婚姻中更加幸福的一對(duì)夫妻。

Mrs. Tonini, 45 years old, a business manager at an optometrist's office in Huntsville, Ala., firstgot married at age 23--a relationship that lasted 15 years and led to two children. Mr. Tonini'sfirst marriage, which produced three children, lasted a similar amount of time, before going sourin the mid-2000s.

現(xiàn)年45歲的琳內(nèi)是亞拉巴馬州亨茨維爾一個(gè)驗(yàn)光師辦公室的業(yè)務(wù)經(jīng)理，她23歲時(shí)第一次結(jié)婚，這段婚姻維持了15年并育有兩個(gè)孩子。查克的第一次婚姻帶給他三個(gè)孩子，也持續(xù)了大約15年，在2005年前后結(jié)束。

After their breakups, Lynne met Chuck, now 39, and they became friends, then romanticallyinvolved. The couple waited five years before getting married in April 2013.

各自的婚姻失敗后，琳內(nèi)與現(xiàn)年39歲的查克相遇，他們成了朋友，然后相互愛(ài)戀。五年之后的2013年4月，他們步入婚姻的殿堂。

Mr. Tonini says he looked for different qualities this time around--things like self-sufficiency.'When you get older, you look at things more maturely, and you want a more well-roundedperson,' he says.

查克說(shuō)，這次他希望妻子身上有一些不同的特質(zhì)。他說(shuō)，年齡大一些后，看待事情會(huì)更加成熟，也希望有一個(gè)更完美的伴侶。

The couple won't be celebrating Valentine's Day this Friday--they will be attending their 18-year-old son's high-school state championship wrestling tournament, which goes until about10 p.m. But Mr. Tonini says he and wife have no problem waiting one more day. 'I might sendher flowers,' he said. 'We'll make sure we celebrate.'

這對(duì)夫妻周五不會(huì)慶祝情人節(jié)，他們要參加18歲兒子所就讀高中舉辦的全州摔跤錦標(biāo)賽，比賽將持續(xù)到晚上10點(diǎn)左右。但查克說(shuō)他和妻子不介意推遲一天再過(guò)節(jié)。他說(shuō)：“我會(huì)送花給她，情人節(jié)肯定要過(guò)。”