Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reassessing the link between premarital cohabitation and marital instability

  • Published:
Demography

Abstract

Premarital cohabitation has been found to be positively correlated with the likelihood of marital dissolution in the United States. To reassess this link, I estimate proportional hazard models of marital dissolution for first marriages by using pooled data from the 1988, 1995, and 2002 surveys of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). These results suggest that the positive relationship between premarital cohabitation and marital instability has weakened for more recent birth and marriage cohorts. Using multiple marital outcomes for a person to account for one source of unobserved heterogeneity, panel models suggest that cohabitation is not selective of individuals with higher risk of marital dissolution and may be a stabilizing factor for higher-order marriages. Further research with more recent data is needed to assess whether these results are statistical artifacts caused by data weaknesses in the NSFG.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amato, P.R. and A. Booth. 1995. “Changes in Gender Role Attitudes and Perceived Marital Quality.” American Sociological Review 60: 58–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G.S. 1973. “A Theory of Marriage: Part I.” Journal of Political Economy 81: 813–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G.S., E.M. Landes, and R.T. Michael. 1977. “An Economic Analysis of Marital Stability.” Journal of Political Economy 85: 1141–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, N.G., A. Klimas Blanc, and D.E. Bloom. 1988. “Commitment and the Modern Union: Assessing the Link Between Premarital Cohabitation and Subsequent Marital Stability.” American Sociological Review 53: 127–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Booth, A. and D. Johnson. 1988. “Premarital Cohabitation and Marital Success.” Journal of Family Issues 9: 255–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brien, M.J., L.A. Lillard, and S. Stern. 2006. “Cohabitation, Marriage, and Divorce in a Model of Match Quality.” International Economic Review 47: 451–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bumpass, L.L. and H.-H. Lu. 2000. “Trends in Cohabitation and Implications for Children’s Family Contexts in the United States.” Population Studies 54: 29–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bumpass, L.L. and J.A. Sweet. 1989. “National Estimates of Cohabitation.” Demography 26: 615–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bumpass, L.L., J.A. Sweet, and A.J. Cherlin. 1991. “The Role of Cohabitation in Declining Rates of Marriage.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 53: 913–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherlin, A.J. 1992. Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage. Revised and enlarged ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 2004. “The Deinstitutionalization of American Marriage.” Journal of Marriage and Family 66: 848–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, D.R. 1972. “Regression Models and Lifetables.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B 34(2): 187–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Vaus, D., L. Qu, and R. Weston. 2003. “Premarital Cohabitation and Subsequent Marital Instability.” Family Matters 65: 34–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMaris, A. and K.V. Rao. 1992. “Premarital Cohabitation and Subsequent Marital Stability in the United States: A Reassessment.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 54: 178–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamp Dush, C.M., C.L. Cohan, and P.R. Amato. 2003. “The Relationship Between Cohabitation and Marital Quality and Stability: Change Across Cohorts.” Journal of Marriage and Family 65: 539–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, S. and L. Bumpass. 2008. “Cohabitation and Children’s Living Arrangements: New Estimates From the United States.” Demographic Research 19: 1663–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lichter, D.T., D.K. MacLaughlin, G. Kephart, and D.J. Landry. 1992. “Race and the Retreat From Marriage: A Shortage of Marriageable Men?” American Sociological Review 57: 781–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liefbroer, A.C. and E. Dourleijn. 2006. “Unmarried Cohabitation and Union Stability: Testing the Role of Diffusion Using Data From 16 European Countries.” Demography 43: 203–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lillard, L.A., M.J. Brien, and L.J. Waite. 1995. “Premarital Cohabitation and Subsequent Marital Dissolution: A Matter of Self-Selection?” Demography 32: 437–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, W.D. and P.J. Smock. 2005. “Measuring and Modeling Cohabitation: New Perspectives From Qualitative Data.” Journal of Marriage and Family 67: 989–1002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, R.A. 2000. “Female Wages, Male Wages, and the Economic Model of Marriage: The Basic Evidence.” Pp. 302–19 in The Ties That Bind. Perspectives on Marriage and Cohabitation, edited by L.J. Waite. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, R.A., R. Reville, and A.E. Winkler. 1998. “Beyond Single Mothers: Cohabitation and Marriage in the AFDC Program.” Demography 35: 259–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). 2010. “Marriage and Cohabitation in the United States: A Statistical Portrait Based on Cycle 6 (2002) of the National Survey of Family Growth.” Vital and Health Statistics 23(28). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, J.A. and M.M. Sweeney. 2005. “Premarital Cohabitation and Marital Disruption Among White, Black, and Mexican American Women.” Journal of Marriage and Family 67: 295–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reinhold, S. 2007. “Essays in Demographic Economics.” PhD thesis. Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University.

  • -. 2009. “Reassessing the Link Between Premarital Cohabitation and Marital Instability.” MEA Discussion Papers, University of Mannheim.

  • Schoen, R. 1992. “First Unions and the Stability of First Marriages.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 54: 281–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song, X. 2001. “Labor Supply and Fertility Behaviors in Cohabitation and Marriage.” PhD thesis. Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University.

  • Svarer, M. 2004. “Is Your Love in Vain? Another Look at Premarital Cohabitation and Divorce.” Journal of Human Resources 39: 523–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 2005. “Two Tests of Divorce Behaviour on Danish Marriage Market Data.” Nationaløkonomisk Tidsskrift 143: 416–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teachman, J.D. 2002. “Stability Across Cohorts in Divorce Risk Factors.” Demography 39: 331–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 2003. “Premarital Sex, Premarital Cohabitation, and the Risk of Subsequent Marital Dissolution Among Women.” Journal of Marriage and Family 65: 444–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 2008. “Complex Life Course Patterns and the Risk of Divorce in Second Marriages.” Journal of Marriage and Family 70: 294–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teachman, J.D. and K.A. Polonko. 1990. “Cohabitation and Marital Stability in the United States.” Social Forces 60: 207–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging, University of Mannheim, L13, 17, 68131, Mannheim, Germany

    Steffen Reinhold

Authors
  1. Steffen Reinhold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steffen Reinhold.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Reinhold, S. Reassessing the link between premarital cohabitation and marital instability. Demography 47, 719–733 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0122

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0122

Keywords

Search

Navigation