Relationship quality in midlife: A comparison of dating, living apart together, cohabitation, and marriage

Abstract

Objective This study compared the relationship quality of US midlife adults in dating, living apart together (LAT) relationships, cohabitation, and marriage. Background Unmarried partnerships are gaining ground in midlife but how these partnerships compare to each other and to marriage is unclear. From an incomplete institutionalization perspective, those in unmarried relationships, especially LAT relationships but also cohabitations, face challenges due to unclear relationship norms and expectations, which may eventuate in poorer relationship quality than that of the married. Alternatively, cohabitation and, by extension, LAT relationships offer flexibility and autonomy and thus may function as an alternative to marriage marked by comparable relationship quality. Method Data were drawn from the 2013 Families and Relationships Survey, a nationally representative survey of US adults. The analytic sample was composed of adults aged 50–65 in a partnership (N = 2166). Multivariable models compared the associations between relationship type (dating, LAT, cohabiting, and married) and relationship quality (happiness, support, commitment, disagreement, and instability). Results The incomplete institutionalization perspective was supported for LATs, who tended to report poorer relationship quality than marrieds. For cohabitors, this perspective received mixed support. Although cohabitors reported less happiness and commitment than marrieds, which aligned with the incomplete institutionalization perspective, the groups did not differ on relationship support, disagreement, or instability, supporting the cohabitation as an alternative to marriage perspective. Dating, LAT, and cohabiting relationships were remarkably alike. Conclusion This study has implications for understanding the shifting landscape of relationships in midlife which in turn may shape individual health and well‐being.

Union Status and Disability Pension

“…For example, cohabiters have been found to pool their economic resources to a lesser degree (Hamplova & Le Bourdais, 2009 ; Hamplová et al, 2014 ; Lyngstad et al, 2011 ). A number of studies have also revealed that cohabiting couples report lower relationship quality than the married (Aarskaug Wiik et al, 2012 ; Brown et al, 2017 , 2022 ) and lower levels of commitment (Perelli-Harris et al, 2014 ; Stanley et al, 2004 ), although the difference between marriage and cohabitation may be smaller in societies where cohabitation is widespread (Aarskaug Wiik et al, 2012 ). As a result, the levels of social support and social control might not be as high as in marriages.…”

“…For example, partners typically pool their (economic) resources and have advantages of scale, and they may benefit from mutual social support and from monitoring each other’s health behavior. The strength of these potential mechanisms may depend on the type of union, with marriage often being found to involve higher levels of commitment and relationship quality than cohabitation (Brown et al, 2017 , 2022 ; Perelli-Harris et al, 2018 ). Having lived a large part of life alone, which is most common among the never married, has been linked to a number of health problems (Davidsen et al, 2022 ; Kriegbaum et al, 2009 , 2011 ).…”

A Cohort Comparison of Midlife Marital Quality: A Quarter Century of Change

“…To obtain consistency across data sources we created a five category measure: less than $25,000 (reference), $25,000–39,999, $40,000–74,999, $75,000–99,999, and $100,000 or greater. This follows prior research that has utilized household income using the FRS data (Brown, Manning, & Wu, 2017). Employment was a dichotomous variable indicating whether the respondent was working at a paying job, coded as 1 = yes and 0 = no .…”

Adult children’s union type and contact with mothers: A replication

“…These causal notions tend to stress that cohabitation is, in some crucial ways, organized and perceived differently than marriage. For instance, cohabitation involves lower commitment and more individualized practices of the partners, which are mirrored -among other things -in higher dissolution rates (Brown, Manning, and Wu 2022;Hiekel and Wagner 2020;Liefbroer and Dourleijn 2006). Cohabitation is, some authors argue, a less institutionalized form of coresidential union and entails lower expectations of interaction with the partner's parents (Nock 1995).…”