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Patterns of Entry into Cohabitation and Marriage Among Mainland Puerto Rican Women*

Demography volume 28, pages 587–607 (1991)Cite this article

Abstract

This paper adds to our limited knowledge of racial and ethnic variation in union formation by describing and analyzing the first unions of mainland Puerto Rican women. Retrospective history data show that Puerto Ricans have shared in the post-l970 shift toward cohabitation. Puerto Rican women, however, are much more likely to enter informal first unions than the general population, and have a low propensity to transform informal unions into legal marriages. The paper examines the influence of family background and current activities on union timing and type. The relationship between partner attributes and the choice between formal and informal coupling is also considered.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Population Issues Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

    Nancy S. Landale

  2. Department of Sociology and Population Research Center, The University of Chicago, USA

    Renata Forste

Authors
  1. Nancy S. Landale
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  2. Renata Forste
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Additional information

The research reported in this paper was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, “The Demography of Puerto Rican Household Structure” (I R29 HD25859-0l). The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of Katherine Fennelly, Daniel Lichter, R.S. Oropesa, and the anonymous referees on a previous draft of the paper.

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Landale, N.S., Forste, R. Patterns of Entry into Cohabitation and Marriage Among Mainland Puerto Rican Women*. Demography 28, 587–607 (1991). https://doi.org/10.2307/2061424

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Keywords

  • Union Formation
  • Consensual Union
  • Formal Marriage
  • Puerto Rican Woman
  • Legal Marriage