Historical Trends in the Marital Intentions of One‐Time and Serial Cohabitors

Abstract

This study explored whether cohabitors' marital intentions have changed over time and whether they are sensitive to a person's cohabitation history, that is, the number of cohabitations individuals have experienced. Using a sample of ever‐cohabited women, 16–28 years old, from the 2002 and 2006–2010 National Survey of Family Growth (N = 6,023), the author found that the prevalence of serial cohabitation continues to increase among younger birth cohorts. Furthermore, the share of female cohabitors with plans to marry has been declining across time, net of demographic controls and cohabitation history. Serial cohabitation has strong negative associations with marital intentions, a pattern that was not present among the oldest birth cohort but has emerged among more recent cohorts. These findings extend prior work by showing that the downward trend in cohabitors' marital intentions is continuing among the youngest cohort of women and, importantly, is not explained by serial cohabitation.

Relationship Quality Among Cohabiting Versus Married Couples

“…These two groups not only comprise the majority of co-resident couples, they also are largely indistinguishable in terms of their relationship quality. As plans to marry become less common among cohabitors (Vespa, 2014) and increasing shares of married couples premaritally cohabit (Manning & Stykes, 2015), the two groups are blurring together in terms of relationship quality which aligns with diffusion theory.…”

“…Still, today’s cohabiting unions are less likely to culminate in marriage and more likely to end through separation (Kennedy & Bumpass, 2011). Cohabitors less often report plans to marry their partner and serial cohabitation is on the rise (Vespa, 2014). Consequently, cohabitation should now be less selective, meaning those who cohabit are less distinguishable from those who do not cohabit in terms of both measured and unmeasured characteristics.…”

Diverging Patterns of Union Transition Among Cohabitors by Race/Ethnicity and Education: Trends and Marital Intentions in the United States

“…Consistent with such explanations, a declining proportion of cohabitors intend to marry their partners (Vespa 2014). Minority women and those with lower levels of education are more likely to have experienced single-parent families while growing up (McLanahan and Percheski 2008).…”

Cross-national differences in women's repartnering behaviour in Europe: The role of individual demographic characteristics

“…We can only investigate repartnering in middle age, and the repartnering behaviour of older women may be different, especially if the women have been in long-term marriages. We are also unable to analyse the repartnering behaviour of more recent cohorts, who have experienced higher levels of cohabitation, union dissolution, and, indeed, serial partnerships (Lichter and Qian 2008;Lichter, Turner, and Sassler 2010;Bukodi 2012;Vespa 2014). …”