Approximately 2% of older widows and 20% of older widowers ever remarry (Smith, Zick, & Duncan, 1991). The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that each year, out of every 1,000 wid- owed men and women ages 65 and older, only 3 women and 17 men remarry (Clarke, 1995).

What is the average age a woman becomes a widow?

57 The statistics indicate that 75% of married women become widows. This seems logical since women live longer than men by about seven years and women tend to marry older men. The unbelievable statistic is that the average age that a woman becomes a widow is 57. Losing a husband creates emotional turmoil for a wife.