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Partner Market and Union Stability in Germany

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Theorie als Beruf

Part of the book series: Studien zum Weber-Paradigma ((SZWP))

Abstract

This study investigates whether the imbalance of supply and competitors on the partner market impacts the stability of marital and non-marital unions. Using the first six waves of the German Family Panel (pairfam) we find partner market effects on the proposal of a separation and on separation itself. Women’s partner market opportunities impact union stability depending on the duration of the union. The impact of men’s partner market opportunities on union stability depends on living arrangement with the effect being stronger for cohabiting than for married couples. Whether or not a context provides opportunities for (alternative) partner choice and for separation depends on using adequate bridging assumptions about individuals’ preferences for a (new) partner’s traits.

This study is part of the research project “The macrostructural context of the marriage market: longitudinal dynamics” funded by the German Research Council (DFG, grants no. STA1209/1–1, STA1209/1–2, STA1209/1–3).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Obersneider et al. (2018) as well for a more detailed up-to-date-review of previous research.

  2. 2.

    Given that interethnic couples are still a minority and that official statistics can only differentiate Germans and non-Germans, we assume a preference for a partner with the same nationality. Thus, our partner market measures use only the German population.

  3. 3.

    Though pairfam uses a cohort sample design restricted to anchors born in 1971–1973, 1981–1983 and 1991–1993, the anchors’ partners can come from all birth years.

  4. 4.

    Due to item-nonresponse on the questions about suggesting a separation, models 1 and 2 use subsamples with less observations.

  5. 5.

    There are only few couples with union durations larger than 7 years. Therefore, coefficients are more or less erratic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Weber-Institut für Soziologie, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Deutschland

    Johannes Stauder & Laura Unsöld

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  1. Johannes Stauder
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Correspondence to Johannes Stauder .

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  1. Max-Weber-Institut für Soziologie, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Ulrich Bachmann

  2. Max-Weber-Institut für Soziologie, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Thomas Schwinn

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Stauder, J., Unsöld, L. (2021). Partner Market and Union Stability in Germany. In: Bachmann, U., Schwinn, T. (eds) Theorie als Beruf. Studien zum Weber-Paradigma. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32000-3_13

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