Premarital Cohabitation and Direct Marriage in the United States: 1956-2015

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Arielle Kuperberg, Associate Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Cohabitation rates and durations increased rapidly beginning in the late 1960s, and by 2011-2015, 70% of first marriages among women under age 36 began in premarital cohabitation lasting an average of 32 months before marriage. The National Survey of Families and Households (n = 3,594) and the National Survey of Family Growth (n = 9,420) are analyzed to estimate selection into direct marriage and premarital cohabitation from 1956-2015, and long- and short-term premarital cohabitations from 1971-2015. Early premarital cohabitors were more likely to be women of color and had the same education as direct marriers. Later cohorts of premarital cohabitors were less educated, from lower class backgrounds, more likely to have experienced a parental divorce/separation, less religious, and long-term premarital cohabitations were more common among women of color.

Additional Information

Publication
Marriage & Family Review, 55(5): 447-475
Language: English
Date: 2019
Keywords
cohabitation, demography, marriage, premarital relationships, social change, socioeconomic status, United States

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