Marriage risks, cohabitation and premarital births in Canada

Abstract

"This paper is an attempt to examine the trends in union formation among various cohorts and to identify some of the socio-demographic correlates of marital timing. The data for this study are taken from the Canadian Fertility Survey of 1984. The results indicate that there is no immediate crisis for the family in Canada, but that many are choosing cohabitation as a preferred mode of first union formation at early stages. Young women (below 25 years of age), residents of large metropolitan areas, those with a university education and those with low religious commitment are more likely than others to be delayers of marriage." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Type and timing of first union formation in Québec and the rest of Canada: Continuity and change across the 1930–79 birth cohorts

“…Respondents born in the 1930s and 40s were between 62 and 81 years old at the time of the survey, and only individuals who survived to this age could be sampled. The median survival time to first marriage for these birth cohorts found in this study corresponds closely with past studies of these cohorts (e.g., Pollard and Wu 1998;Rao 1990;Ravanera et al 2002), so it appears that the mortality bias is not a large concern.…”

“…However, it is not without its limitations. One limitation is that it excludes other determinants of type of first union choice and timing of first union that have been shown to be important in past research, including the conception, birth, and presence of children, income, and work status (e.g., Eggebeen and Dew 2009; Kerr et al 2006;Rao 1990). The 2011 GSS includes retrospective information about fertility and work histories, so future work could include these measures to further the results of this study.…”

“…Language and religion have been found to predict union formation behaviours (e.g., Eggebeen and Dew 2009;Rao 1990), largely as markers of separate cultures, with different normative systems (Lapierre-Adamczyk and Charvet 2000; Laplante 2104). I classify the respondents into English-speakers, French-speakers, and others, based on the language they speak most frequently at home.…”

“…The percentage of Canadians who have ever cohabited has increased over time, as has the proportion of first unions that are non-marital cohabiting relationships. Using the 1984 Canadian Fertility Study, Rao (1990) found that 20.6 per cent of Canadian women cohabited outside of marriage with their first partner. Dumas and Belanger (1997) updated this research using the 1995 General Social Survey, and found that of the Canadians who entered a first union between 1990 and 1994, 57 per cent formed a cohabiting union.…”

The Effect of Premarital Cohabitation on Marital Stability over the Duration of Marriage

“…Its growing prevalence is, in part, a phase in the ongoing social transformation of the Western family, preceded by declining marriage and fertility rates, postponement of marriage, and increasing divorce rates. Cohabitation may in fact be a reaction to the declining marital rates and rising divorce rates, and the sense that marriage is an increasingly fragile union Thornton 1992, 1996;Lillard, Brien, and Waite 1995;Rao 1988). …”