Vetting and Letting: Cohabiting Stepfamily Formation Processes in Low‐Income Black Families

Abstract

The authors examined cohabiting union formation processes by analyzing in-depth interview data collected from 30 individuals in cohabiting relationships: 15 low-income Black mothers of adolescents and their partners. Prior research suggests that cohabiting union formation is a gradual, nondeliberative process. In contrast, most couples in this study described a gradual but highly deliberative process. Mothers focused primarily on vetting their partners to ensure child well-being and less on when and how their partners officially came to live with them, a process the authors call vetting and letting. Mothers delineated 4 strategies to ensure their child’s well-being when vetting their partners, and their partners reported that they understood the importance of participating in this process. The authors argue that vetting and letting is a child-centered family formation process, not a partner-centered union formation process, and that cohabiting union processes may vary substantially by subpopulation.

Cohabitation and Marriage: Complexity and Diversity in Union‐Formation Patterns

“…Problems of interpretation are further compounded when cohabiting partners do not share similar aspirations for marriage or when partners bring unequal resources or power to the relationship (Sassler & Joyner, ; Sassler & Miller, , ). Understanding changes in marital intentions is also complicated by new variation in living arrangements by social class, gender, family background, and children (Rackin & Gibson‐Davis, ; Reid & Golub, ).…”

“…Many individuals entering (or reentering) the partner market are also parents (Qian & Lichter, ), both nonresidential and custodial. Parental status may differentially shape union formation for men and women—its timing (Reid & Golub, ), type (cohabitation vs. marriage) or stability (Lichter et al, ; Tach & Halpern‐Meekin, ). Little research has examined whether children exert similar influences on men's repartnering as they do for mother's—despite the growing prevalence of men whose children spend substantial amounts of time in the paternal residence (Meyer, Cancian, & Cook, ).…”

A Longitudinal Examination of Housing Hardships Among Urban Fathers

“…Housing security and family relationships are inextricably linked. Research on family formation for lower income families is contextualized by significant economic instability (Edin & Kefalas, 2005; M. Reid & Golub, 2015), with implications for housing.…”

Dating in the Time of #BlackLivesMatter: Exploring Mixed-race Women’s Discourses of Race and Racism

“…When people form close relationships, they develop strategies to guide their selections of partners. For instance, research has found that low-income black women pursuing cohabitating unions engage in a process of “vetting and letting” to ensure the well-being of their children (Reid and Golub 2015). Although this vetting of male partners is child focused, mothers are able to assess how certain partners will be as parents and can apply lessons learned from previous relationships.…”