If you used celebrities as your guide to marriage and divorce, you would think that everyone is constantly marrying, divorcing and remarrying again.  So what is the reality.

In 2009, the Census Bureau reported that among all current marriages, here were the percentages of husbands and wives and their marital histories. [See Table 10, page 19 for more details.]

• Husband, 1st marriage, Wife, 1st marriage       71.5%
• Wife, 1st marriage, Husband, 2nd marriage       7.8%
• Wife, 2nd marriage, Husband, 2nd marriage     7.5%
• Wife, 2nd marriage, Husband, 1st marriage       6.3%
• Wife, 2nd marriage, Husband, 3rd marriage      2.0%
• Wife 3rd marriage, Husband, 2nd marriage       1.7%
• Wife 1st marriage, Husband, 3rd marriage        1.2%
• Wife 3rd marriage, Husband, 3rd marriage       1.2%
• Wife 3rd marriage, Husband 1st marriage         0.9%

The results show that most Americans who are married are in their first marriage for both husbands and wives.  Only 7% of all marriages include one spouse who has been married 3 times.