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How can widowhood and divorce affect fertility patterns in a population?

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A Hindu couple in elaborate gold headdresses and traditional attire is blessed by a priest during their wedding ceremony in Bali, Indonesia, with ceremonial offerings on the table. — Marriage A Hindu couple being blessed by a priest during their wedding ceremony, Bali, Indonesia.

Widowhood and divorce are primary drivers of marital disruption, which significantly impacts population fertility patterns by limiting the time women spend in reproductive unions.1

Collectively, these factors can account for the elimination of 20 to 50 percent of a woman's potential reproductive years. The influence of these disruptions on fertility has shifted over time:1

Widowhood: Historically a common cause of marital dissolution, the impact of widowhood on fertility has been sharply reduced in many regions due to significant declines in mortality rates.1
Divorce: Once an uncommon exception, divorce has become a major factor in modern society, terminating a large proportion of marriages in many countries.1

Because fertility is often constrained by social behaviors and cultural regulations surrounding marriage, the dissolution of a union—especially when individuals do not remarry—creates a gap between biological fecundity and realized fertility. While extramarital fertility and cohabiting unmarried couples have risen in many Western countries, marital disruption remains a critical variable in explaining why actual fertility rates often fall far below biological potential.12