Since the 1990s, many U.S. states have enacted or lengthened the waiting periods required for parties to divorce with the goal of strengthening marriage or at least discouraging divorce. I use the length of time by which some states have shortened their waiting periods to analyze how such waiting periods affect remarriage rates. I find that when the waiting period is shortened to 1.5 years or less, remarriage rates decrease for relatively young people but increase for older people. To the extent that remarriage is pivotal for older women impoverished by divorce to recover economically and emotionally, my results suggest that—though longer waiting periods might preserve some marriages—a prolonged period might reduce the welfare of older divorced women by hampering their remarriage prospects.

中文翻译：

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不能再等了？较短等待期对离婚和再婚的影响

自 1990 年代以来，美国许多州已制定或延长双方离婚所需的等待期，目的是加强婚姻或至少阻止离婚。我使用一些州缩短等待期的时间长度来分析这种等待期如何影响再婚率。我发现，当等待期缩短到 1.5 年或更短时，相对年轻的人再婚率会降低，但老年人的再婚率会增加。在某种程度上，再婚对于因离婚而陷入贫困的老年女性在经济和情感上恢复至关重要，我的研究结果表明——尽管较长的等待期可能会保留一些婚姻——但较长的等待期可能会阻碍老年离婚女性的再婚前景，从而降低她们的福利。