Choosing between Marriage and Cohabitation: Women’s First Union Patterns in Hungary

Abstract

In this paper, we study the patterns of women first union formation in Hungary. We use competing risk models (Cox regression) to analyze retrospective data (women sub sample, N=8931) from the Gender and Generations Survey for Hungary, wave 1. We found that cohabitation is increasing popular choice among the young cohorts in Hungary and it works as a marriage replacement for women who start their union career later in life. While there is a well defined tendency of the younger generations to choose cohabitation rather than marriage as a first union, the level of education, being in school, working status and ethnicity play an important role in taking this decision.

Culture, Modernization, and Politics: Ethnic Differences in Union Formation in Kyrgyzstan

“…Although marriage still remains a sine qua non for complete social self-realization among most members of this generation and the relative economic stabilization has reversed the early post-Soviet plunge in marriage rates (National Statistical Committee 2006, p. 232), nuptiality scenarios become negotiable as they increasingly include postponement of marriage, transition to marriage through cohabitation or unregistered religious union, and even cohabitation as an alternative to marriage. These processes are universal and replicate the trends that took place earlier in North America and Western Europe (Cherlin 2004;Rindfuss and VandenHeuvel 1990;Smock 2000) and more recently have been occurring in other settings (e.g., Bradatan and Kulsar 2008;Jones 2005;Sobotka and Toulemon 2008). If other countries' experience is of any guidance, retreat from marriage continues unabated even when the economic times are good (Lichter et al 2002;Zakharov 2008) and the recent recovery of marriage rates in Kyrgyzstan is unlikely to reverse the long-term trend, especially in the context of the current economic downturn.…”

“…The Roma have long had distinct patterns of family formation and organization (Barany 2002). Preference for cohabitation over marriage-or rather the group's disregard for state registration of marital unionhas been one expression of this exclusion-based distinction (Barany 2002;Bradatan andKulsar 2008: Koytcheva andPhilipov 2008).…”

“…The recent literature on union formation in post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe typically explains the postponement of and retreat from marriage and rise in cohabitation observed in those settings by a combination of increased economic uncertainty, loosening social and sexual norms, changing gender ideology, and greater personal freedoms and opportunities in the context of the rapid and radical transition to market economy and liberal democracy (Bradatan and Kulsar 2008;Frejka 2008;Perelli-Harris 2008;Sobotka 2004;Thornton and Philipov 2009;Zakharov 2007), even though it has also been argued that the onset of these trends preceded the fall of communism (e.g., Gerber and Berman 2010). Although these processes have affected all countries of the region, there have remained considerable cross-country variations in age at first marriage and especially in the dynamics of unregistered unions, which have reflected each country's sociocultural traditions and economic circumstances (see Sobotka and Toulemon 2008, for a recent review).…”

Socioeconomic Marriage Differentials in Australia and New Zealand

“…this is true despite the corollary assumption, implicit in the female independence hypothesis, that marriage should be a greater necessity for women with less education. Consequently, while higher educational attainment still delays marriage (Blossfeld 1995;Kalmijn 2007: 245), it is ultimately associated with higher marriage propensities for women in the united States, Canada, and some european countries (Blossfeld 1995;Bracher and Santow 1998;Kravdal 1999;Hullen 2000;Goldscheider, turcotte, and Kopp 2001;Goldstein and Kenney 2001;Sweeney 2002;Goldscheider, Hogan, and turcotte 2006;Bradatan and Kulcsar 2008).…”

Transformation of Partnership Formation in Eastern Europe: The Legacy of the Past Demographic Divide

“…A characteristic feature of modem family initiation has been the far-reaching disconnection of union formation from maniage: it has become increasingly common for unmarried young people to start living together as a couple. Trends in the mode of partnership formation in Eastem Europe have been addressed in several recent studies (Bradatan and Kulcsar 2008;Katus, Puur, and Sakkeus 2008;Kostova 2008;Stankuniene et al, 2009;Zakharov 2008), but none has attempted to combine the evidence from all of the GGS coxmtries in that region.…”