Socioeconomic differentials in the transition to first cohabitation in Norway

Using Norwegian data this study examines the impact of individual as well as parental socioeconomic resources on the timing of the transition to first cohabitation. The analyses show that the entrance into a first cohabitation is positively affected by individual level of education, whereas school enrollment delays first cohabitation. Further, respondents whose parents have a secondary or tertiary education start their first cohabitation later than those with lower educated parents. There are, however, important gender differences in the association between socioeconomic variables and the timing of first cohabitation. First, there is a stronger positive association between level of education and timing of first cohabitation for women than is the case for men. The positive effect of income, on the other hand, is more pronounced for men. Lastly, the delaying effect of having a tertiary educated father is stronger for the female sub-sample.     

The role of cohabitation in remarriage: a replication

Previous research has demonstrated that the effects of postdivorce cohabitation on the quality of intimate relationships are similar to those of premarital cohabitation. Thus, like premarital cohabitation in first marriage, postdivorce cohabitation in general and multi-partnered postdivorce cohabitation in particular delay remarriage and diminish relationship quality (i.e. undermine happiness and stability). However, such findings are based on survey data from the 1980s, such as the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households. Using pooled samples from the National Survey of Family Growth (1995, 2002), the present study determines whether such findings can be replicated with more recent nationally representative data collected from remarried women between the ages of 15 and 44 (n=1915). Multivariate regression analyses reveal two major findings. First, as anticipated, premarital and postdivorce cohabitation, including multi-partnered forms of cohabitation, delay remarriage. Moreover, serial cohabitation also significantly delays remarriage. Second, remarriages preceded by either postdivorce cohabitation or serial cohabitation exhibit a higher likelihood of remarital disruption (i.e. dissolution or separation). Consequently, while premarital and postdivorce cohabitation have become common in the USA, postdivorce and serial cohabitation continue to exert disruptive effects on remarriages among young American women. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Union Formation and Depression: Selection and Relationship Effects

Many studies have established that married people fare better than their never‐married counterparts in terms of psychological well‐being. It is still unclear, however, whether this advantage is due primarily to beneficial effects of marriage or to the selection of psychologically healthier individuals into marriage. This study employs data on young adults from both waves of the National Survey of Families and Households to test hypotheses based on both selection (N= 878) and relationship (N= 722) effects. Further, we differentiate union formation into cohabitation and marriage with and without prior cohabitation. Results indicate no evidence of selection of less depressed persons into either marriage or cohabitation, but a negative effect of entry into marriage on depression, particularly when marriage was not preceded by cohabitation.     

Premarital cohabitation and marital disruption among white,black, and Mexican American women

We use data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (N = 4,547) to investigate racial and ethnic differences in risk factors for marital disruption, with a particular emphasis on premarital cohabitation. We find that the nature and strength of the estimated effects of several risk factors for disruption differ across groups. In particular, premarital cohabitation is positively associated with subsequent marital disruption among non‐Hispanic White women but not among non‐Hispanic Black or Mexican American women. Little of the observed gaps between groups in levels of disruption, however, appears to be attributable to differences in premarital cohabitation. In addition to improving our understanding of marital disruption, this research contributes to a growing literature emphasizing heterogeneity across groups in the meaning and function of cohabitation.     

Measuring and Modeling Cohabitation: New Perspectives From Qualitative Data

Almost all our knowledge about cohabitation in the United States rests on analysis of nationally representative, large‐scale surveys. We move beyond this work by drawing on 115 in‐depth interviews with a sample of young men and women with recent cohabitation experience. These data allow us to address two issues of central interest to family studies. First, we use our qualitative data to assess the measurement of cohabitation in surveys and the census. We find that current measurement strategies are probably underestimating cohabitation, and we may need to find new ways to measure cohabitation. Second, we employ qualitative findings to address issues relating to how we empirically model union formation. We find that the movement into cohabitation is not akin to marriage. It is often not a deliberate decision. Couples do not appear to be deciding between cohabitation and marriage; rather, their decision seems to center around whether to remain single or cohabit. These results have important implications for our analysis and understanding of cohabitation.     

The Influence of Union Transitions on White Adults’ Attitudes Toward Cohabitation

Data from the Intergenerational Panel Study of Parents and Children are used to identify the influences of adult union transitions on changes in attitudes toward cohabitation among a sample of 794 young adults. The analysis examines the extent to which attitudes about cohabitation change as a result of entry into and exit from cohabitation and marriage. A dynamic interpretation of union transitions is formulated, and results demonstrate that entry into a first cohabitation and divorce after direct entry into marriage are associated with increasingly positive attitudes toward cohabitation between the ages of 18 and 31. Some evidence suggests that direct entry into stable marriage leads young adults to view cohabitation less favorably.