Abstract

We investigate partnership transitions of mothers who had no coresidential partner at the time of birth of their first child ('solo mothers'). Using retrospective partnership and co-residence histories from the Czech 2005 GGS, we investigate mothers' entry into the first subsequent co-residential partnership using event history methods. We test several hypotheses derived from the individualisation theory. While approximately one half of 'solo mothers' had no co-residential partner at the time they had their first child, almost 50% of them did enter a co-residential partnership subsequently. The probability of transitioning into a co-residential partnership increased over cohorts. Whereas about 25% of solo mothers from the oldest cohort (first child born before entered a co-residential partnership with the 20 years after having their first child, in the youngest cohort the figure was almost two-thirds. The highest odds are among very young solo mothers. Well-educated solo mothers are more likely to remain without a co-residential partner and the effect of education increases over cohorts, perhaps reflecting their growing ability and willingness to remain solo.

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