Relationship quality often declines following the birth of child, likely reflecting in part the shift towards role traditionalization that occurs through gender specialization. The current study used longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, an urban birth cohort in 2000 consisting of structured interviews of mothers and fathers who were followed over 5 years (n = 1275), to examine whether low levels of fathers' involvement and coparenting, two indicators of role traditionalization, were linked to negative trajectories of mothers' and fathers' relationship quality for couples whose first child was born in marriage or cohabitation. We carefully consider union transitions in the 5 years postpartum by including between-subjects variables indicating that the parents were continually married, continually cohabiting, were cohabiting at the child's birth and got married after, or were cohabiting or married at the child's birth but subsequently separated. As anticipated, both fathers' involvement and coparenting were positively associated with parents' reports of relationship quality, more so for mothers than for fathers and especially for cohabiting mothers, buffering the decline in mothers' and fathers' relationship quality that typically accompanies the birth of a child. These findings underscore the importance of the father role, not only for the well-being of the child (as we know from other research) but also for the relationship of the parents. Fathers should be encouraged and supported to take an active role in parenting through educational programs and public policy (e.g., paid paternity leave).

Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,702 couples) are employed to examine the association between mother‐ and father‐reported parenting characteristics (father involvement and coparenting) and transitions out of cohabitation through marriage or separation in the 5 years after a child is born. Father involvement and coparenting may be signs of commitment and investment among couples without the legal bonds of marriage. Both the level and change in father involvement and coparenting are associated with a decreased likelihood of separation, although neither is associated with greater odds of marriage. These results suggest that higher levels of father involvement and a positive coparenting relationship may keep couples together, which allows children to spend their early years with both biological parents in the household.

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We use investment theory to study the trajectory of father involvement over time as a function of union status and union transition. Data on 4,311 mother-father pairs are from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. Fathers who remain in a continuous co-residential union, who transition from cohabitation to marriage, or who transition from a non-coresidential state to a co-residential union experience the highest levels of father involvement. Fathers who are continuously nonresident exhibit the lowest levels of involvement. Cohabiting fathers exhibit higher levels of father involvement than married fathers. A positive coparenting relationship is associated with higher levels of involvement. We discuss the place of cohabiting families in light of our findings.

As cohabitation has risen dramatically in the past few decades among adults of all ages, it is possible that middle and older-aged parents are "learning" cohabitation from their young adult children. The present study uses this theory as a guiding framework to determine if parents are more likely to cohabit themselves following the start of a young adult child's cohabitation. Using three waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 275), results show that union formation patterns are influenced by young adult children among parents who are single at their child's 18 th birthday. Parents are less likely to marry than remain single and are much more likely to cohabit than marry if they have a young adult child who cohabits. These results show support for the hypotheses.Cohabitation has risen rapidly in the United States over the past 30 years. Today, there are over 5 million cohabiting couples in the United States, which is over 9 times the number of couples cohabiting in 1970 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2005). Cohabitation is occurring among people of all ages although less attention has been on those who cohabit in middle and later life. Only a handful of studies have attempted to describe older cohabitors and determine what factors are considered in their decision to cohabit rather than marry (Brown, Bulanda, & Lee, 2005;Brown, Lee, & Bulanda, 2006;Chevan, 1996;King & Scott, 2005). These studies have not considered the impact of socialization by young adult children on the decision to cohabit in middle and later life.Socialization has in the past been considered a top down process; parents socialize their children, teachers socialize their students, and so on. However, theorists have come to realize that socialization continues throughout the life course. Reciprocal socialization is simply the notion that individuals are both agents and subjects of socialization. Socialization from child to parent has been discussed in the theoretical world; however, empirical studies of these processes have been rather limited (Crouter & Booth, 2003).To date, there are no studies that have examined the effect of young adult children's cohabitation experience on subsequent parental cohabitation behavior. One study did examine the influence of young adult children's cohabiting behavior on parental attitudes toward cohabitation and found that young adults' behavior positively influenced parental attitudes (Axinn & Thornton, 1993). Taking this a step further, I examine the influence of young adult children's cohabiting behavior on parental cohabiting behavior. While it is noteworthy that cohabitation socialization from children to parents can only occur among a select group of people, examining this type of relationship is relevant nonetheless. These issues will be discussed in detail below. Cohabitation is the modal pathway to marriage among young adults (Bumpass & Lu, 2000). Cohabitation is also more likely to occur among the previously married population than the never married (Bumpass & Lu, 2000). Furt...