Cohabitation and Marital Expectations Among Single Millennials in the U.S.

Cohabitation has surpassed marriage as the most common union experience in young adulthood. We capitalize on a new opportunity to examine both marital and cohabitation expectations among young single women in recently collected, nationally representative data (National Survey of Family Growth 2011–2015) (N?=?1467). In the US there appears to be a ‘stalled’ second demographic transition as single young adult (ages 18–24) women have stronger expectations to marry than cohabit and the vast majority expects to, or has, already married. Among young women expecting to marry, the majority (68%) expect to cohabit with their future spouse but about one-third expect to follow a traditional relationship pathway into marriage (to marry without cohabiting first). In addition, women from disadvantaged backgrounds report the lowest expectations to marry, but there is no education gradient in expectations to cohabit. Marriage expectations follow a “diverging destinies” pattern, which stresses a growing educational divide, but this is not the case for cohabitation expectations. Our results, based on recently collected data, provide insight into the contemporary context of union formation decision-making for the millennial generation.

     

Social Class Correlates of Stability and Change in Levels of Alienation: a Longitudinal Study

Identical allenation items were used on questionnaires administered to 334 subjects in 1963 and again in 1971. Drawing upon the variables of powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, and social isolation, an analysis was made of stability and change in alienation scores. The direction of change was toward disproportionate increases over decreases, with the largest increase occurring for normlessness. Differential educational and occupational status, along with other social characteristics, were examined for sources of subsequent change in different measures of alienation. The results indicated significant differences in levels of alienation by socioeconomic variables at the two points in time. The amount of change, however, was not differentiated by changes in socioeconomic characteristics.     

Social Justice in Career Services: Perspectives of University Career Center Directors

Research indicates that career development practitioners value social justice and desire additional skills to be able to advocate effectively. Many of these practitioners work on college campuses under the supervision of career center directors; however, directors' perspectives on social justice have been missing from the literature. Following the National Career Development Association's mandate to actively practice the professional value of honoring diversity and promoting social justice, we surveyed 11 career center directors regarding advocacy in career services. Results of thematic analysis yielded center directors' insights into both defining and promoting social justice. Participants addressed the roles and responsibilities of career counselors, career center directors, and institutional culture. Implications for practice include the importance of open communication and the need for collaboration inside and outside of the career center. These findings highlight potential areas for future research into best practices for integrating social justice and advocacy in university career services.     

Does financial self-efficacy explain gender differences in retirement saving strategies?

Research indicates that women remain less financially prepared for retirement than are men. Little research has examined the gender difference in use of retirement plans. The present research assessed the gender difference in use of employer-sponsored and private retirement plans, and sought to account for this difference. Social status and human capital factors, occupation and industry of employment, and sense of financial self-efficacy were expected to account for gender differences. Findings indicated gender has no relationship with use of private retirement plans. However, females were found to be less likely to use an employer-sponsored plan, and this was largely accounted for by gender differences in occupation.     

Residence background,migration, and fertility

This paper attempts to clarify confusion concerning residence background and migration, and to demonstrate that each of these factors exerts an independent effect on fertility. Basic premises underlying the direction of the effect of these variables on fertility are examined. Data from the 1967 Survey of Economic Opportunity indicate that migration and residence background do have independent effects. It is concluded that present generalizations as to the direction of their influence should be submitted to closer scrutiny with additional data in the future. In addition, an index of rural exposure is developed to test the proposition that fertility varies directly with degree of rural experience. The data only partially support this hypothesis. Moreover, rural-to-urban migrants are found to have only slightly higher fertility than the receiving urban-origin population.     

Fertility decision making,unintended births,and the social drift hypothesis: A longitudinal study

To explore relationships between fertility intentions and subsequent childbearing, data were collected from 334 mothers in a metropolitan area in 1963 and again in 1971, allowing for a time interval of eight years for testing a series of hypotheses on fertility control. The results suggested that social psychological obstacles to decision making should be taken into account as potential qualifiers of the more rational models of fertility behavior currently prevalent in the literature. The alienation variable of meaninglessness was examined in conjunction with education, age at marriage, marital duration, and previous parity. The analyses indicated that pregnancies for many women are experienced as occurrences, happenings, or unintended events within a social psychological context of social drift.Research support pursuant to contract NIH-71-2028 with the Center for Population Research, NICHD, is gratefully acknowledged, as is the assistance of David W. Chilson in the processing of the data. Request reprints from either author, Sociology Department, Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403.