Demographic Approaches to Same-Sex Relationship Dissolution and Divorce

The recent US Supreme Court decision to legalize marriages of same-sex couples has resulted in a surge of new marriages, and some end in divorce. There is a limited research base to draw on to understand the potential patterns and correlates of divorce among same-sex couples. There are only a few recent studies on the instability or dissolution of same-sex relationships in the United States in part because there are only a handful of data sources with large enough samples of same-sex couples that can be used to analyze the instability of same-sex relationships and compare their stability to different-sex relationships. The chapter reviews recent findings on the dissolution of same-sex relationships in Europe and the United States with a focus on the legal status of the relationship, noting areas for future research. It discusses potential opportunities and challenges in new studies of divorce and dissolution among same-sex couples.