ERIC Number: EJ989881
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Aug
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-2445
EISSN: N/A
Transitions into and out of Cohabitation in Later Life
Brown, Susan L.; Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck; Lee, Gary R.
Journal of Marriage and Family, v74 n4 p774-793 Aug 2012
Cohabitation among adults over age 50 is rising rapidly, more than doubling from 1.2 million in 2000 to 2.75 million in 2010. A small literature provides a descriptive portrait of older cohabitors, but no study has investigated transitions into and out of cohabitation during later life. Drawing on demographic and life course perspectives, the authors developed a framework for conceptualizing later life union behaviors. Using data from the 1998-2006 Health and Retirement Study, they estimated discrete-time event-history models predicting union formation (i.e., cohabitation or marriage) among older unmarried individuals (N = 3,736) as well as transitions to either marriage or separation among older cohabitors (N = 377). Those who formed a union were as likely to be in a cohabiting relationship as a marriage. Older adult cohabiting unions were quite stable and unlikely to culminate in either marriage or separation. During later life, cohabitation appears to operate as a long-term alternative to marriage. (Contains 6 tables and 1 note.)
Descriptors: Adults, Marriage, Interpersonal Relationship, Economic Factors, Interviews, Predictor Variables, Regression (Statistics), Demography
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A