Marriage or dissolution? Union transitions among poor cohabiting women

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to identify the incentives and barriers to marriage among cohabiting women, especially disadvantaged mothers who are targets of welfare reform. We use the newly released cohabitation data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979-2000), which tracks the partners of cohabiting women across survey waves. Our results support several conclusions. First, cohabiting unions are short-lived--about one-half end within one year, and over 90% end by the fifth year. Unlike most previous research, our results show that most cohabiting unions end by dissolution of the relationship rather than by marriage. Second, transitions to marriage are especially unlikely among poor women; less than one-third marry within five years. Cohabitation among poor women is more likely than that among nonpoor women to be a long-term alternative or substitute for traditional marriage. Third, our multinomial analysis of transitions from cohabitation into marriage or dissolution highlights the salience of economically disadvantaged family backgrounds, cohabitation and fertility histories, women's economic resources, and partner characteristics. These results are interpreted in a policy environment that increasingly views marriage as an economic panacea for low-income women and their children.

Violence, Teenage Pregnancy, and Life History

“…Unemployment makes it harder for parents to provide for themselves and children, increasing familial stress levels and marital discord. Financial difficulty, economic instability and welfare dependency have all been shown to be common causes of intimate partner violence, divorce or union dissolution (Cunradi et al, 2000;Diem & Pizarro, 2010;Lewin, 2005;Lichter, Qian & Mellott, 2006;Weaver, Sanders, Campbell & Schnabel, 2009). An increase in population density (especially in an area of already limited resource) exacerbates these stress levels, as competition increases.…”

Targeting, Universalism, and Single-Mother Poverty: A Multilevel Analysis Across 18 Affluent Democracies

“…Single mothers are particularly vulnerable because of their typically lower wages, lack of spousal support, and the burdens of raising children (Sorensen 1994;Seccombe 2000). In turn, single motherhood is regarded as a key mechanism in the reproduction of poverty and inequality (Edin and Lein 1997;Lichter et al 2006;Martin 2006;McLanahan and Percheski 2008;Musick and Mare 2006).…”

“…First, previous studies in Demography on single motherhood and poverty have typically studied only the U.S. (e.g., Fitzgerald and Ribar 2004;Lichter et al 2006;Martin 2006;Musick and Mare 2004;Wu 2008). The U.S. may be unusual in both the level of single motherhood and the likelihood of poverty among single mothers.…”

Active-duty military service, cohabiting unions, and the transition to marriage

“…This prevalence has prompted many researchers to seek factors related to the transition to marriage among cohabitors. For the most part, this body of literature suggests that better socioeconomic attainment (education, occupation, or earnings) for cohabiting men spurs marriage (Brown 2000, Lichter, Qian, and Mellott 2006, Oppenheimer 2003, Sanchez, Manning and Smock 1998, Smock and Manning 1997, Smock et al 2005, while the socioeconomic attainments of cohabiting women are not related to marriage (Brown 2000, Sanchez, Manning, and Smock 1998, Smock and Manning 1997. Despite the growing body of literature examining the transition from cohabitation to marriage, prior research has ignored the relationship between military service and union transitions among cohabitors.…”