Marriage and Cohabitation

by Arland Thornton, Yu Xie, William G. Axinn

Overview

Situating their argument in the context of the Western world’s 500-year history of marriage, the authors of this work reveal what factors encourage marriage and cohabitation in a contemporary society where marriage and the relationships between women and men have changed dramatically.

While many people still choose to marry without first cohabiting, others elect to cohabit with varying degrees of commitment or intentions of eventual marriage. The authors’ controversial findings suggest that family history, religious affiliation, values, projected education, lifetime earnings, and career aspirations all tip the scales in favor of either cohabitation or marriage. This book lends new insight into young adult relationship patterns and will be of interest to sociologists, historians, and demographers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226798677
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	10/15/2010
Series:	Population and Development Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Arland Thornton is professor of sociology and a research professor at the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at the University of Michigan. He is the author of Reading History Sideways, also published by the University of Chicago Press. William G. Axinn is professor of sociology at the University of Michigan and a research professor at the ISR. Yu Xie is the Otis Dudley Duncan Professor of Sociology and Statistics at the University of Michigan and a research professor at the ISR.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

I. Historical and Conceptual Issues

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Historical Perspectives on Marriage

Chapter 3. Comparing Marriage, Cohabitation, and Being Single

Chapter 4. Entering Marital and Cohabiting Unions

II. Parental Factors during Childhood and Adolescence

Chapter 5. Influence of Parental Youth Factors before Birth of Study Child

Chapter 6. Influence of Parental Factors during Childhood and Adolescence of the Children

III. Parent and Child Factors during the Children’s Young Adulthood

Chapter 7. The Courtship Process and Union Formation

Chapter 8. Religious Affiliation and Commitment

Chapter 9. The Influence of Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs

Chapter 10. Educational Influences

Chapter 11. Work, Earnings Potential, and Career Aspiration

IV. Integration and Summary of Effects

Chapter 12. Conclusions

Appendix A: Technical Explanation of Estimation of Total, Direct, and Indirect Effects

Appendix B: Conceptualizing and Estimating Union Formation Rates

Appendix C: Description of Measures Used in Chapters through 11

Appendix D: Constructing Measures of Earnings Potential for Use in Chapter 11

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

"A brave attempt at providing a review of the history of the development of marriage and cohabitation in prior centuries and of utilising the life histories of a generation of parents and children who live out their lives across much of the twentieth century to benchmark, illustrate and facilitate our understanding of the meaning of marriage and cohabitation."

European Journal of Population - Kathleen Kiernan

"The book will be of interest to researchers in family-related fields. The literature review is extensive, the presentations of statistical modelling results are easy to understand, and the findings regarding possible intergenerational influences on union formation pathways are insightful."

Journal of Population Research - Lixia Qu

"What is noteworthy is the importance of intergenerational factors in people's decisions on cohabitation and marriage. This book is an important scholarly contribution to understanding marriage and family in the US, with many interesting insights and interpretations concerning the growing phenomenon of premarital cohabitation. . . . Highly recommended."

Choice

The book will be of interest to researchers in family-related fields. The literature review is extensive, the presentations of statistical modelling results are easy to understand, and the findings regarding possible intergenerational influences on union formation pathways are insightful.

— Lixia Qu

Journal of Population Research

A brave attempt at providing a review of the history of the development of marriage and cohabitation in prior centuries and of utilising the life histories of a generation of parents and children who live out their lives across much of the twentieth century to benchmark, illustrate and facilitate our understanding of the meaning of marriage and cohabitation.

— Kathleen Kiernan

European Journal of Population