Cross-National Comparisons of Union Stability in Cohabiting and Married Families With Children

How Do Households Fare Economically When Mothers Become Their Primary Financial Support?

The economic circumstances in which children grow up have garnered much scholarly attention due to their close associations with well-being over the life course. While it has been well-documented that children are increasingly growing up in households where their primary financial support comes from their mother, regardless of whether she is partnered or single, the consequences for household economic well-being are unclear. We use the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation to quantify how a mother's transition into primary earner status affects the economic well-being of her household and if the effects differ based on her relationship status. On average, household income declines and more households are unable to meet their economic needs once the mother becomes the primary earner. However, these declines in income are concentrated among partnered-mother households and mothers who transition from partnered to single during the year. At the same time, although many single mothers see an increase in household income, the majority of these households are still unable to meet their economic needs. These findings suggest that the shift to a welfare system that requires employment coupled with structural changes in the labor market have created financial hardship for most families.

Material hardship in the postpartum year: Links to child maltreatment

BACKGROUND

Millions of mothers with young children in the U.S. struggle to afford basic needs. Material hardships such as inadequate food, housing, and medical care increase risk for child maltreatment as mothers face heightened physical and emotional strain.

OBJECTIVE

The present study applied a person-centered approach to understand unique subtypes of material hardship experienced by at-risk mothers in the postpartum year, and links from hardship subtypes to subsequent child maltreatment.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The sample included at-risk mothers who gave birth in one of 20 large American cities 1998-2000 and retained custody of their children at age 1 and 3 (N = 3966).

METHOD

Latent class analysis (LCA) identified subtypes of material hardship; mean maltreatment scores were estimated across classes.

RESULTS

LCA identified four hardship subtypes with differential risks for maltreatment. Compared to "Stable" mothers, "Cost-Burdened" mothers - who displayed high levels of missed rent and utility payments - were significantly more likely to psychological abuse (χ2 = 5.04, p < 0.05) or neglect (χ2 = 4.46, p < 0.05) their children. "Severely Housing Insecure Mothers" - characterized by elevated rates of doubling up, eviction, and homelessness - were significantly more likely to engage in physical assault (χ2 = 16.25, p < 0.001), psychological aggression (χ2 = 11.15, p < 0.01), and neglect (χ2 = 17.55, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Difficulty maintaining stable and affordable housing is associated with elevated risk of child maltreatment. Efforts to prevent child maltreatment must incorporate access to housing screening and supports, particularly among families with infants.

Repartnering of women in the United States: The interplay between motherhood and socio-economic status

We examine the socio-economic differentials in mothers' and non-mothers' repartnering behaviours following the dissolution of a co-residential (marital or cohabiting) union. Based on five waves of the National Survey of Family Growth (N = 11,479), we use discrete-time event history models, jointly modelling exit from a partnership and entry into a new union. Few differences are found for entry into direct marriage, which is a rarely observed event. However, when we examine women's entry into cohabitation (a possible stepping stone to marriage), we observe: (1) a motherhood gap, where mothers are less likely to repartner than non-mothers; (2) a negative association between educational attainment and repartnering probability; and (3) the motherhood gap existing only for low-educated women. Supplementary analyses on the impact of the Great Recession demonstrate that whereas the economic cycle mattered for the repartnering of low-educated women, it made no difference for more highly educated women.

Does Couples' Division of Labor Influence Union Dissolution? Evidence from Parents of Young Children in Chile

We examined the role of couples' division of labor in the risk of union dissolution among parents of young children in Chile. We looked at whether specialization in the labor market and domestic work predicts union dissolution, and whether these associations differ by parents' marital status and mother's education. Using panel data from the Chilean Encuesta Longitudinal de Primera Infancia (ELPI) 2010 and 2012 waves, we found that specialization in the division of labor is associated with a lower probability of union dissolution among parents of young children in Chile. Unlike prior evidence for the US and the Netherlands, specialization is stabilizing for both married and cohabiting couples. However, there are differences by mother's education. Among mothers with high school education or less, specialization in the division of labor is associated with a lower probability of divorce and separation. On the other hand, among mothers with at least some college education, specialization has no advantage over equality in generating more union stability. Our findings shed light on how the interaction of couple's division of labor and socioeconomic disadvantage may create unequal economic prospects for women and their children following union dissolution.

Mental health benefits of cohabitation and marriage: A longitudinal analysis of Norwegian register data

The aim is to examine how mental health is affected by cohabitation and marriage. Individual fixed-effects models are estimated from Norwegian register data containing information about consultations with a general practitioner because of mental health conditions in 2006-19. Mental health, as indicated by annual number of consultations, improves over several years before cohabitation. For those marrying their cohabiting partner, there is a weak further reduction in consultations until the wedding, but no decline afterwards. In other words, formalization of the union does not seem to confer additional mental health benefits. However, marriage may be considered a marker of favourable earlier development in mental health. In contrast, there is further improvement after direct marriage, as well as stronger improvement over the years just preceding direct marriage. Patterns are quite similar for women and men. Overall, the results suggest that the mental health benefits of cohabitation and marriage are similar.Supplementary material for this article is available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2022.2063933. Note: numbers in brackets refer to supplementary notes that can be found at the end of the supplementary material.

The Intergenerational Transmission of Family Dissolution: How it Varies by Social Class Origin and Birth Cohort

Children from separated parents are more likely to also experience the dissolution of their own union. For many children, parental separation thus is an adverse life course event that follows them into adulthood. We examine whether parents' social class mitigates this adversity and weakens the intergenerational transmission of family dissolution for children from advantaged class origins. This is the case if separated parents with more resources are able to offer better living conditions to their children and keep them longer in education, reducing children's incentives for early home-leaving, early cohabitation and early childbearing-three life course choices that increase the risk of later family dissolution. We analyse the existence of such a compensatory class advantage for three birth cohorts in the UK. Based on 38,000 life histories from two panel surveys (BHPS, UKLHS), we find a strong link between parents' family dissolution and offspring's family dissolution, and a reversal in the effect of parents' class on children's risk of family dissolution over the three birth cohorts of the Silent Generation (1925-45), Baby Boomers (1946-64) and Generation X (1965-79). However, there is no evidence that the intergenerational transmission of union dissolution is mitigated by a compensatory class effect for offspring from more advantaged class origins. Regardless of class origin, parents' union dissolution is associated with a much larger risk of union dissolution among their offspring.

Does union type make a difference when you separate? Frequency of father–child contact and father’s satisfaction with the relation

Growing separation and divorce rates have attracted scholars’ attention to the association between relationship breakup and the relations between fathers and their minor children. Pre-separation life course events and characteristics may influence this relationship. One important characteristic to be considered is the type of union in which ex-partners were in. In this article, we study the association between previous union type and post-dissolution father–child face-to-face contact and father’s satisfaction with the relationship, before and after controlling for factors related to selection into a cohabiting union. Using pooled data from the first wave of the Generations and Gender Survey for 11 European countries, it is shown that, models that do not control for characteristics typically connected with selection into different union types suggest that previously cohabiting fathers have less intensive contact with their child(ren) and are less satisfied with the relationship with their minor children. Taking into consideration the main socio-demographic father and child’s characteristics, this difference turns out not to be statistically significant. This research suggests that union type does not make a difference, confirming most previous studies of single European countries.

So happy together … Examining the association between relationship happiness, socio-economic status, and family transitions in the UK

The increases in cohabitation and in childbearing within cohabitation raise questions about who marries. Most studies have found that childbearing within cohabitation is associated with disadvantage; here, we examine the role of relationship happiness and whether it helps to explain this association. Using the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009-17), our competing risk hazard models follow respondents as they transition: (1) from cohabitation into marriage or childbearing; and (2) from marriage or cohabitation into childbearing. We find that marriage risks are highest among individuals who are happiest with their relationship. On average, the association between relationship quality and childbearing operates through marriage: the happiest individuals marry, and those who marry have children. While higher socio-economic status is weakly associated with marriage, conception, and separation, the associations do not differ by relationship happiness. The findings indicate that overall, relationship happiness appears to be most salient for transitions into marriage.

The Divorce Process and Child Adaptation Trajectory Typology (DPCATT) Model: The Shaping Role of Predivorce and Postdivorce Interparental Conflict

Divorce has been conceptualized as a process. Research has extensively demonstrated that it is pre/postdivorce family environment factors that primarily account for the variability in children's adaptation over parental divorce process rather than the legal divorce per se. Amongst various factors, interparental conflict has been consistently identified as a prominent one. Surprisingly, a single source is still lacking that comprehensively synthesizes the extant findings. This review fills this gap by integrating the numerous findings across studies into a more coherent Divorce Process and Child Adaptation Trajectory Typology (DPCATT) Model to illustrate that pre/postdivorce interparental conflict plays crucial roles in shaping child adaptation trajectories across parental divorce process. This review also summarizes the mechanisms (e.g., child cognitive and emotional processes, coparenting, parent-child relations) via which pre/postdivorce interparental conflict determines these trajectories and the factors (e.g., child gender and age, child coping, grandparental support) that interact with pre/postdivorce interparental conflict to further complicate these trajectories. In addition, echoing the call of moving beyond the monolithic conceptualization of pre/postdivorce interparental conflict, we also review studies on the differential implications of different aspects (e.g., frequency versus intensity) and types (e.g., overt versus covert) of interparental conflict for child adjustment. Last, limitations of prior studies and avenues for future research are discussed. The proposed framework may serve as a common knowledge base for researchers to compare/interpret results, detect cutting edges of the fields, and design new studies. The specificity, complexity, nuance, and diversity inherent within our proposed model await to be more fully revealed.

CHANGE AND VARIATION IN U.S. COUPLES' EARNINGS EQUALITY FOLLOWING PARENTHOOD

In the context of broad increases in gender equality and growing socioeconomic disparities along multiple dimensions of family life, we examine changes in within-family earnings equality following parenthood and the extent to which they have played out differently by education. Our analysis relies on links between rich surveys and administrative tax records that provide high quality earnings data for husbands and wives spanning two years before and up to 10 years following first births from the 1980s to the 2000s in the United States (Survey of Income and Program Participation Synthetic Beta files; N=21,300 couples and 194,100 couple-years). Accounting for time-invariant couple characteristics and year and age fixed effects, we find that wives' share of total couple earnings declines substantially after parenthood and remains lower over the observation window. Cohort changes in within-family earnings equality are modest and concentrated among the earliest cohort of parents, and data provide little evidence of differential change by education. Wives' financial dependence on their husbands increases substantially after parenthood, irrespective of education and cohort. These findings have implications for women's vulnerability, particularly in the U.S. where divorce remains common and public support for families is weak.

How do reproduction, parenting, and health cluster together? Exploring diverging destinies, life histories and weathering in two UK cohort studies

Life history theory researchers often assume reproductive, parenting and health behaviours pattern across a fast-slow continuum, with 'fast' life histories (typified by short lifespans, early maturation and investing in quantity over quality of children) favoured in poor quality environments and/or when resources are scarce. Some researchers further reduce this down to a simplistic 'fast' versus 'slow' dichotomy. Some of these ideas, with different theoretical motivations, are echoed in the 'diverging destinies' and 'weathering' frameworks developed in the social sciences. Whether clustering of reproductive, parenting and health traits exists has rarely been empirically tested, however. Using latent class analysis on data on mothers from the UK's Millennium Cohort (MCS) and Born in Bradford (BiB) studies, we explored whether reproduction and parenting traits clustered into 'diverging destinies', whether 'weathering' effects tied together health and reproduction, and whether all three domains were combined into either 'fast' vs 'slow' life histories, or into three groups more indicative of a fast-slow continuum. We leveraged ethnic diversity in these samples to examine four groups of mothers separately: 1. MCS White British/Irish (n = 15,423); 2. MCS Pakistani-origin (n = 923); 3. BiB White British (n = 3937); 4. BiB Pakistani-origin (n = 4351), and explored whether faster 'weathering' was evident amongst Pakistani-origin mothers. Both two and three class models emerged as potential descriptions of latent subgroups, potentially providing support for fast and slow life histories or a continuum of traits. However, response profiles provided only limited support for theoretical predictions of which traits should cluster together, with inconsistent and restricted clustering of traits both within and between the domains of reproduction, parenting, and health. In addition, trait clustering was more pronounced amongst White mothers and we found no clear evidence supporting faster 'weathering' amongst Pakistani-origin mothers; the observed clustering instead suggested that cultural constraints may influence linkages between traits. Our results therefore provide some limited support for models which suggest certain traits cluster together in predictable ways, but it is also clear that theoretical frameworks should not emphasise very rigid clustering of large numbers of traits and should allow for contextual influences on clustering.

Educational composition and parity contribution to completed cohort fertility change in low-fertility settings

Extensive literature has documented the contribution of rising women's education to decreases in completed cohort fertility (CCF). A key question related to the education-fertility relationship is to what extent the decrease in fertility is the result of changes in educational composition vs changes in fertility behaviours within educational categories. This study quantified the effect of educational expansion on fertility levels by decomposing the overall change in CCF into educational composition and education-specific fertility, and explored the changes in parity-specific components of CCF by education for cohorts born between 1940 and 1970. The results show that, despite the decline in CCF being caused mostly by changes in fertility behaviours, educational composition had a considerable impact for some cohorts. The decline in third and higher-order births played a central role in the fall in CCF across educational groups, while the effects of transitions to first and second births varied substantially.

Marriage and Union Formation in the United States: Recent Trends Across Racial Groups and Economic Backgrounds

Family formation in the United States has changed dramatically: marriage has become less common, nonmarital cohabitation has become more common, and racial and economic inequalities in these experiences have increased. We provide insights into recent U.S. trends by presenting cohort estimates for people born between 1970 and 1997, who began forming unions between 1985 and 2015. Using Panel Study of Income Dynamics data, we find that typical ages at marriage and union formation increased faster across these recent cohorts than across cohorts born between 1940 and 1969. As fewer people married at young ages, more cohabited, but the substitution was incomplete. We project steep declines in the probability of ever marrying, declines that are larger among Black people than White people. We provide novel information on the intergenerational nature of family inequalities by measuring parental income, wealth, education, and occupational prestige. Marriage declines are particularly steep among people from low-income backgrounds. Black people are overrepresented in this low-income group because of discrimination and opportunity denial. However, marriage declines are larger among Black people than White people across parental incomes. Further, most racial differences in marriage occur among people from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Family inequalities increasingly reflect both economic inequalities and broader racial inequalities generated by racist structures; in turn, family inequalities may prolong these other inequalities across generations.

Young Adulthood Relationships in an Era of Uncertainty: A Case for Cohabitation

The young adulthood years are demographically dense. Dr. Ronald Rindfuss made this claim when he was Population Association of America (PAA) president in 1991 (Rindfuss 1991), and this conclusion holds today. I offer both an update of his work by including Millennials and a new view on young adulthood by focusing on an increasingly common experience: cohabitation. I believe we need to move away from our marriage-centric lens of young adulthood and embrace the complexity that cohabitation offers. The cohabitation boom is continuing with no evidence of a slowdown. Young adults are experiencing complex relationship biographies, and social science research is struggling to keep pace. Increasingly, there is a decoupling of cohabitation and marriage, suggesting new ways of framing our understanding of relationships in young adulthood. As a field, we can do better to ensure that our theories, methods, and data collections better reflect the new relationship reality faced by young adults.

Latest-Late Fertility? Decline and Resurgence of Late Parenthood Across the Low-Fertility Countries

After decades of fertility postponement, we investigate recent changes in late parenthood across low-fertility countries in the light of observations from the past. We use long series of age-specific fertility rates from the Human Fertility Database (1950-2016) for women, and new data covering the period 1990-2016 for men. In 1950, the contribution of births at age 40 and over to female fertility rates ranged from 2.5 to 9 percent, but then fell sharply until the 1980s. From the 1990s, however, the prevalence of late first births increased rapidly, especially so in countries where it was initially lowest. This has produced a late fertility rebound in the last two decades, occurring much faster for women than for men. Comparisons between recent and past extremely late (age 48+) fertility levels confirm that people are now challenging the natural fertility barriers, particularly for a first child.

Mind the "Happiness" Gap: The Relationship Between Cohabitation, Marriage, and Subjective Well-being in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Norway

Many studies have found that married people have higher subjective well-being than those who are not married. Yet the increase in cohabitation raises questions as to whether only marriage has beneficial effects. In this study, we examine differences in subjective well-being between cohabiting and married men and women in midlife, comparing the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Norway. We apply propensity score–weighted regression analyses to examine selection processes into marriage and differential treatment bias. We find no differences between cohabitation and marriage for men in the United Kingdom and Norway, and women in Germany. However, we do find significant differences for men in Australia and women in Norway. The differences disappear after we control for selection in Australia, but they unexpectedly persist for Norwegian women, disappearing only when we account for relationship satisfaction. For German men and British and Australian women, those with a lower propensity to marry would benefit from marriage. Controls eliminate differences for German men, although not for U.K. women, but relationship satisfaction reduces differences. Overall, our study indicates that especially after selection and relationship satisfaction are taken into account, differences between marriage and cohabitation disappear in all countries. Marriage does not lead to higher subjective well-being; instead, cohabitation is a symptom of economic and emotional strain.

Norwegian children and adolescents in blended families are at risk of larger one-year BMI increments

AIM

To study how sociodemographic factors and family structure associate with baseline BMI z-scores (BMIz) and BMIz change in 767 Norwegian children aged 6-15 years.

METHODS

Baseline BMIz and 1-year BMIz increments in children from the Bergen Growth Study were analysed with linear and logistic regression, according to sociodemographic factors and family structure. A blended family was defined as including a step-parent and/or half-sibling.

RESULTS

In a fully adjusted regression model, baseline BMIz were only significantly associated with maternal BMI (b = 0.087, 95%CI 0.067, 0.107). Body Mass Index z-scores increments were larger in children living in a blended family (b = 0.060, 95%CI 0.006, 0.115), with a lower parental education (b = 0.127, 95%CI 0.029, 0.226) and with a higher maternal BMI (b = 0.008, 95%CI 0.001, 0.014). The odds for a large BMIz increment (>1 SD) were higher in children living in blended families (OR 1.82, 95%CI 1.16, 2.88) and with higher maternal BMI (OR 1.07, 95%CI 1.01, 1.13) and lower in 9-11-year-old children (OR 0.44, 95%CI 0.26, 0.77) compared with 12-15-year-olds.

CONCLUSION

Body Mass Index z-scores increments were more strongly associated with sociodemographic factors and living in a blended family than baseline BMIz values. BMI z-scores increments could be useful for identifying children at risk of becoming overweight or obese.

Divorce, Repartnering, and Stepfamilies: A Decade in Review

This article reviews key developments in the past decade of research on divorce, repartnering, and stepfamilies. Divorce rates are declining overall, but they remain high and have risen among people older than age 50. Remarriage rates have declined, but the overall proportion of marriages that are remarriages is rising. Transitions in parents' relationships continue to be associated with reduced child well-being, but shifting patterns of divorce and repartnering during the past decade have also reshaped the family lives of older adults. We review research on the predictors and consequences of these trends and consider what they reveal about the changing significance of marriage as an institution. Overall, recent research on divorce, repartnering, and stepfamilies points to the persistence of marriage as a stratified and stratifying institution and indicates that the demographic complexity of family life is here to stay.

Contribution of the Rise in Cohabiting Parenthood to Family Instability: Cohort Change in Italy, Great Britain, and Scandinavia

In this study, we investigate through microsimulation the link between cohabiting parenthood and family instability. We identify mechanisms through which increases in cohabiting parenthood may contribute to overall increases in separation among parents, linking micro-level processes to macro-level outcomes. Analyses are based on representative surveys in Italy, Great Britain, and Scandinavia (represented by Norway and Sweden), with full histories of women’s unions and births. We first generate parameters for the risk of first and higher-order birth and union events by woman’s birth cohort and country. The estimated parameters are used to generate country- and cohort-specific populations of women with stochastically predicted family life courses. We use the hypothetical populations to decompose changes in the percentage of mothers who separate/divorce across maternal birth cohorts (1940s to 1950s, 1950s to 1960s, 1960s to 1970s), identifying how much of the change can be attributed to shifts in union status at first birth and how much is due to change in separation rates for each union type. We find that when cohabiting births were uncommon, increases in parents’ separation were driven primarily by increases in divorce among married parents. When cohabiting parenthood became more visible, it also became a larger component, but continued increases in parents’ divorce also contributed to increasing parental separation. When cohabiting births became quite common, the higher separation rates of cohabiting parents began to play a greater role than married parents’ divorce. When most couples had their first birth in cohabitation, those having children in marriage were increasingly selected from the most stable relationships, and their decreasing divorce rates offset the fact that increasing proportions of children were born in somewhat less stable cohabiting unions.