Premarital Cohabitation Research Articles

Predictors of premarital cohabitation timing among young women in Ethiopia: insights from the 2016 demographic and health survey using a shared frailty model.

Most new HIV infections occur in sub-Saharan Africa due to premarital, likely experiences of abuse, exploitation, intimate partner violence, murder, and suicide. Transient nature of the relationship, cohabiting young females are frequently at risk for poor mental health following disagreements. This study's aim was to predictors of premarital cohabitation timing among young women in Ethiopia. Secondary data from the 2016 Ethiopian Health and Demographic Survey was analyzed. The study comprised a weighted sample of 6,142 young women. A weighted descriptive analysis of graphs, frequency tables, medians, and percentiles was performed to describe the study participants. The Akaike information criteria were used to choose the best-shared frailty model for the data. Final measures of effect size included the adjusted hazard ratio, both of which had a p-value of less than 0.05. Premarital cohabitation was reported to have a median age of 16 years (IQR, 15-18 years). Woman's age (AHR = 0.795; 95% CI: 0.761-0.868) was one of the independent predictors of time to premarital cohabitation. For primary, secondary, and higher education, respectively, 0.733 (95% CI: 0.607, 0.959) and 0.610 (95% CI: 0.589, 0.632) were seen among women who can read and write (AHR = 0.896; 95% CI: 0.872, 0.920). Women with access to the media (AHR = 0.722, 95% CI: 0.510, 0.963). The most important idea is that educational level, access to media, age, and literacy are the most significant factors for the time-to-premarital cohabitation rate.

Modeling determinants of time-to-premarital cohabitation among Ethiopian women using parametric shared frailty models.

Premarital cohabitation is rampant and currently practiced worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a known cause of marital instability and divorce. It is also associated with intimate partner violence and harms the psychology of children in later life. However, in Ethiopia, there has been limited attention given to premarital cohabitation. The main goal of this study was to identify the determinants of time-to-premarital cohabitation among Ethiopian women. The 2016 EDHS data was used to achieve the study's goal. The survival information of 15683 women was analyzed based on their age at premarital cohabitation. The regional states of the women were used as a clustering effect in the models. Exponential, Weibull, and Log-logistic baseline models were used to identify factors associated with age at premarital cohabitation utilizing socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. The median age of premarital cohabitation was found to be 18 years. Surprisingly, 72.7% of participants were cohabitated in the study area. According to the Log-logistic-Gamma shared frailty model, place of residence, occupation, educational status, and being pregnant were found to be factors determining the time to premarital cohabitation. Premarital cohabitation among Ethiopian women was higher compared to women in the sub-Saharan Africa and East Africa. Place of residence, occupation, educational status, and being pregnant were found to be factors determining the time for premarital cohabitation. Therefore, we recommend the concerned bodies set out strategies to educate women about the influencing factors and dangers of premarital cohabitation.

Premarital cohabitation and the gendered division of household labor in China

Premarital cohabitation has been understudied in China, and its impact on marriages in the region remains largely unexplored. This study examines the implications of premarital cohabitation for gender inequalities in Chinese marriages. The author analyzes how married couples with and without the experience of premarital cohabitation compare in the amounts of time they spend doing housework, whether the differences can be attributed to social and economic factors, and to what extent the experience of cohabitation equalizes the gendered division of housework. Drawing on four waves of data (2010, 2014, 2016, and 2018) from the China Family Panel Studies, this study is one of the first to provide nationally representative evidence on the relationship between premarital cohabitation and housework in China. Propensity score weighting and linear mixed effect models were employed. In contrast to findings from Western contexts, this study finds that in China, premarital cohabitation is not associated with a smaller gender gap in housework time after accounting for factors that affect selection into cohabitation. However, premarital cohabitation was associated with a significant decrease in women's housework time among urban residents and couples married after 1995, while its effect on men's housework time was not significant. Findings from this study highlight a gendered cohabitation effect on housework hours in China and underscore the importance of contextualizing the meanings of cohabitation and housework in non-Western contexts.

Motives and Consequences of Premarital Cohabitation Practices among University Students in Iringa Municipality, Tanzania

This study was done in order to establish motives and consequences of premarital cohabitation practices among university students in Iringa Municipality through qualitative research approach and phenomenological research design. Snowball and purposive sampling were used to obtain a representative sample of 36 students, 3 deans of students, 3 wardens, and 4 ministers of residences. The obtained data was subjected to thematic analysis and presented in quotes of respondents’ voices. The findings indicate that university students do cohabit to meet accommodation demands, not lose sexual lovers, exercise freedoms and acquire status from their peers, satisfy sexual urges and secure financial collaboration from partners. Furthermore, cohabitation leads students to encounter unplanned pregnancies, engage in abortions, attain poor academic performance, acquire sexual transmitted diseases, be subjected to physical and sexual abuse, emotional neglect and psychological disturbances. Therefore, it is recommended that students should not cohabit because the practice is associated with negative effects that may hinders life goals and expectations.

Stability and change in predictors of marital dissolution in the US 1950–2017

AbstractObjectiveOur goal is to measure change over time in the predictors of marital dissolution in the United States.BackgroundThe last comprehensive comparative analysis of predictors of marital dissolution is more than 20 years out of date. Rising inequality in the United States requires a fresh look at the predictors of marital dissolution. The Diverging Destinies hypothesis predicts greater inequality over time in the divorce rate between groups, whereas the Converging Destinies hypothesis predicts convergence in divorce rates.MethodWe use a variety of event history models to examine the change over time in race, ethnicity, intermarriage, premarital cohabitation, education, teen marriages, and family of origin intactness as predictors of marital dissolution using data on first marriages from the National Survey of Family Growth covering seven decades of marital histories. We examine racial differences in the nonracial predictors of divorce.ResultsIn the post‐Civil Rights era, Black women's and White women's marital dissolution rates converged. In the most recent marriage cohorts, marital dissolution rates for Black women have increased relative to White women and teen marriage is increasingly associated with divorce. Women without the BA degree appear to be increasingly at risk for divorce. We find that wives from racial minority groups have divorce rates that are less impacted by premarital cohabitation, low education, and teen marriage.ConclusionThe demographic profile of women at marriage has changed dramatically, while the predictors of divorce have changed modestly. Where there are changes in the predictors of divorce, we find more support for Diverging Destinies.

Prevalence of, disposition towards and factors associated with cohabitation among undergraduates in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Background: Cohabitation is increasingly common in tertiary institutions and is associated with reproductive health and other related challenges. This study is designed to determine the prevalence, pattern, disposition and reasons for premarital cohabitation among students of a tertiary institution in South West Nigeria
 Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 350 undergraduates selected from a university in Oyo State using a multistage sampling technique. Data was collected via a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 22.0
 Results: Majority (90.0%) of the respondents were below 25 years and 70.0% were females. Twenty seven (7.7%) were currently cohabiting while 70 (20.0%) had ever cohabitated. A third (32.0%) were favorably disposed towards cohabitation. More males, older respondents and those whose parents were not their source of income reported ever having cohabited.
 Conclusion: Cohabiting is practiced among university students and is socially acceptable to many. Concerted efforts geared towards sensitization and awareness programs to educate students on the adverse consequences of cohabitation should be embarked upon by concerned stakeholders.

Premarital Cohabitation as a Model of Matrimonial Behavior of Young People

The relevance of the research topic is caused by the emergence of serious scientific interest in the study of value orientations in the system of traditional premarital behavior, characterized by the presence of destructive phenomena and the formation of a new model of premarital strategy of young people, which have a serious impact on value preferences and attitudes in the system of choosing forms of family and marriage relations.It was found that the traditional system of premarital behavior has undergone a significant transformation associated with increased interest on the part of young people in cohabitation during the premarital period, reflecting the obvious processes of individualization of values and significant changes in the system of behavioral models in the youth environment.The purpose of this article is due to the identification of the main social mechanisms that have a significant impact on the formation of premarital cohabitation among young people.Objectives: to consider the main values in the modern youth environment; to analyze the motives and identify the reasons for the formation of premarital cohabitation in the youth environment in the context of modern transformational processes.Methodology. In the course of work on the study, methods of systemic, structural and functional analysis were used, methods of comparison, observation, questioning and interviewing were used in the process of studying value orientations in the system of premarital behavior of young people.Results. The sociological research conducted within the framework of the problem posed allowed analyzing the features of the value preferences of young people in choosing the main marriage strategies in modern conditions; to determine the degree of influence of social factors on the functioning of the system of premarital behavior, which has undergone significant changes in modern conditions.Conclusions. The transformational processes affecting the institution of the family caused by the difficult socioeconomic conditions of life in Russian society, which had a significant impact on the formation of new value orientations and attitudes among young people, had a significant impact on the state of the system of traditional premarital behavior.

Stabilita koresidenčních partnerství po narození prvního dítěte: zesílil po roce 1989 "ochranný efekt manželství"?

This article investigates the stability of co-residential partnerships after first birth in the Czech Republic. It explores the ‘marriage premium’, which refers to the advantage that children born to married parents have in comparison to other parental arrangements, and also highlights change in the ‘marriage premium’ after 1989. The analysis also examines the effect of marriage timing: Does the marriage premium differ between pre-birth and post-birth marriages? Did the effect of timing also change after 1989? The analysis is based on Czech GGS (Generations and Gender Survey) data from 2005. Direct marriages are the most stable unions, cohabitations are the least stable. Among couples who were not married, the odds of dissolution increased by 142 per cent (in comparison to marriages without pre-marital cohabitation). This ‘marriage premium’ increased after 1989. Marriage timing has come to play an increasingly important role. In the pre-1989 marriage cohort, pre-birth and post-birth marriage had the same stabilising effect. After 1989, however, pre-delivery wedding stabilises unions more than post-delivery legitimising marriages. We conclude that the era of highly individualised partnership choices has clearly shone a light on the consequences of these choices for subsequent union stability.

Premarital Cohabitation, Marital Dissolution, and Marital Quality in China

Using data from the 2018 Chinese Family Panel Studies, this study examines the associations between premarital cohabitation, marital satisfaction, and the probability of a subsequent divorce and captures the gradated variations of marital quality by incorporating divorce and self-rated marital satisfaction into a generic measure of marital quality. Findings show positive associations between cohabitation and divorce and negative associations between cohabitation and marital quality. Results further show that the negative association between cohabitation and marital quality is weakened by better education, higher income, and rural origin, and stronger among men. The consistent negative associations between cohabitation and all the marital quality outcomes indicate the persistent strength of the norm of universal marriage, based on which cohabitation is still considered substantively distinct from marriage both in terms of legal status and social recognition. The diverse social gradients of the cohabitation-marital quality links reflect the heterogeneous social meanings of cohabitation in contemporary China.

Gendering the second demographic transition: gender asymmetry, gendered tension, and cohabitation in contemporary urban China

The Second Demographic Transition (SDT) framework highlights individuals’ ideational shift toward greater individualism in explaining the rise of non-marriage unions. Contemporary China has seen a substantial increase in premarital cohabitation. Drawing on 65 in-depth interviews with highly educated young urban Chinese women and men, this article examines the gendered ways in which young Chinese adults perceive and make decisions about premarital cohabitation, as they envision their ideal lives and what autonomy and self-realization mean to them. I demonstrate that while male respondents predominantly view cohabitation positively as a risk-reduction strategy for avoiding incompatible marriages, female respondents still consider cohabitation to be a risk-amplification arrangement in practice that increases the possibility of uncertain marriage prospect, unsafe sex, and reputational damages. Young women, but not men, often have to strategize—through carefully managing information disclosure—about persistent parental expectations that discourage women’s premarital cohabitation. As a result, while male respondents regard marriage to be neither the necessary precondition nor the end goal of cohabitation, female respondents, who otherwise emphasize autonomy and individualistic fulfillment, continue to desire a close linkage between cohabitation and marriage. Leveraging the unique strength of qualitative data in demographic research, this article articulates the gender asymmetry in how women and men perceive cohabitation’s risks, benefits, and link to marriage. I elucidate the gendered tension between privately-held ideals of individualism vis-à-vis enduring social norms of female marriageability, as women and men differentially navigate parental expectations surrounding cohabitation. In so doing, this article makes a theoretical contribution by bringing a careful treatment of gender into the SDT framework.

Is there a Chinese pattern of the second demographic transition?

The Second Demographic Transition (SDT) is a useful theoretical framework for explaining the recent trend in many countries of very low fertility combined with alternative union and family types. Although past studies have observed the SDT in many Western societies, whether it is applicable to East Asia remains unclear. Capitalizing on data from the Chinese Census and China Family Panel Studies, we provide estimates of key behavioral and ideational indicators of the SDT. We find that union formation in China has trended increasingly toward patterns commonly observed in the West, including delayed age of marriage and the common practice of premarital cohabitation. While having a lowest-low fertility rate, China has not experienced rising nonmarital childbirths, a key component of the SDT. However, we observe growing tolerance toward nonmarital childbearing and childlessness. Marriages remain relatively stable in China, especially among couples with children. Taken together, our analysis suggests that typically coincident changes in patterns of family behavior associated with the SDT are not occurring simultaneously in China. Moreover, ideational changes are preceding behavioral changes, particularly in attitudes toward nonmarital childbearing and childlessness. Our research suggests a different pattern of the SDT in China, which has been heavily influenced by Confucian culture.

The second demographic transition: also a 21st century Asian challenge?

This introduction aims at placing the unfolding sub-patterns of the Asian “Second Demographic Transition” (SDT) in a global context by contrasting them with those of societies with other than patriarchal histories. Firstly, fertility transitions to below-replacement level can be achieved as part of the first “altruistic” transition without any SDT traits being present. Secondly, Asian societies are by no means immune to genuine SDT developments, as illustrated by the emergence and spread of pre-marital cohabitation. Thirdly, the SDT cohabitation pattern is still conservative: it is followed by marriage, pregnancies result in shotgun marriages or abortions, and parenthood within consensual unions remains rare. Also divorce rates are low. But it is also argued that all Asian cases are still at the beginning of the possible SDT evolution or have barely started it, and that old ways can die off rather quickly with the succession of generations. Finally, it is shown that the cultural component, i.e. the “Willingness” condition, can act as a bottleneck slowing down the transition to a new pattern of behaviour. We therefore illustrate on a global scale how the spread of cohabitation is part of a broader ethical revolution stressing individual rather than societal discretion in matters of life and death. On the basis of these profiles we expect stronger resistance to SDT patterns of partnerhip formation in Hindu and Muslim societies.

Romantic Partnerships and Criminal Offending: Examining the Roles of Premarital Cohabitation, Serial Cohabitation, and Gender

In the face of growing diversity in marital and cohabiting relationships, the impact of romantic partnerships on criminal desistance may likewise have grown complex. This study investigates how premarital cohabitation and serial cohabitation might influence criminal behavior. We also examine the role of gender in the desistance process. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we find that married men who cohabited with the spouse before marriage tended to commit more crimes than those who did not, whereas among married women premarital cohabitation was not associated with an increase in crime. In contrast, serial cohabitation’s effect did not vary by gender—male and female serial cohabitors both committed more crimes than one-time cohabitors. We conduct analyses to address selection and the findings are robust. Our work suggests that exploring heterogeneity within changing patterns of marriage and cohabitation is critical to understanding desistance from crime.

Pooling of Wealth in Marriage: The Role of Premarital Cohabitation

Previous studies documented the existence of a ‘cohabitation–marriage gap’ in resource pooling among opposite-sex partners, with cohabiters being more likely to separate income and wealth than married individuals. Surprisingly, despite many non-marital cohabitations transform into marriages, we know little about income and wealth pooling of ‘spousal cohabiters’, i.e. spouses who transition to marriage after experiencing a period of non-marital cohabitation. The comparison between ‘spousal cohabiters’ and directly married spouses is particularly interesting because it offers a litmus test of theories of marriage in relation to how and why economic resources are differently distributed within married vs. cohabiting couples. This paper compares directly married couples and ‘spousal cohabiters’ in Italy, focusing on one aspect of resource pooling: the marital property regime, i.e. the choice made at the time of marriage between joint or separate ownership of wealth accumulated during marriage. Competing hypotheses are developed on the basis of the arguments that marriage yields legal protection, that selection mechanisms drive both the choice of community vs. separation of property and direct marriage vs. premarital cohabitation, and that, by inertia, ‘spousal cohabiters’ continue to separate resources upon transition to marriage. Results based on the 2016 Italian ‘Family and social subjects’ survey show that ‘spousal cohabiters’ are significantly more likely to choose separation of property compared to directly married spouses. Such differences, however, are drastically reduced once relevant confounders are controlled for, hence suggesting that existing differences between directly married and previously cohabiting couples and, more generally, differences between married and cohabiting couples are driven, above all, by selection mechanisms.

Changing Family Styles in China: The Influence of Traditional Media and Internet Use on the Acceptance of Premarital Cohabitation

This study aims to explore the relationship between media use and Chinese residents’ attitudes toward acceptance of premarital cohabitation (AAPC). We collected data from a national Chinese survey (N = 10,968). The results demonstrated that greater traditional media use was associated with worse AAPC, whereas Internet use was associated with better AAPC. We also found that individualistic orientation could mediate the relationship between traditional media and Internet use and AAPC. Traditional gender role beliefs showed disparate moderating roles in the influence of traditional media and internet use on AAPC. The implications for family therapy practice were discussed.

CHANGES IN TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE OF KHMER PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH OF VIETNAM (A CASE STUDY IN TRI TON DISTRICT, AN GIANG PROVINCE)

The article mentions changes in concept of Southern Khmer marriage from 1980s to present in the aspects of conception, marriage rules, the right to decide on marriage, criteria for choosing a partner, the registration of marriage and divorce. This change has not lost the traditional values of the ethnic group but has had an impact on traditional culture in both positive and negative directions. On the positive side, the change gradually increases the voluntary marriages, reduces the inbreeding, the child marriage in ethnic minority areas, as well as increases the solidarity, the harmony between ethnic groups, and also enriches the traditional culture of the ethnic group,. . . . On the other hand, the marriage of the Khmer people today also meets current unavoidable inadequacies. Specifically, some new cultural features are not suitable for the Khmer to absorb from outside into marriage such as new concepts of chastity, pre-marital sex, pre-marital cohabitation, separation and divorce inherently brings negative effects on social life.

Union formation and childbearing among Chinese youth: Trends and socioeconomic differentials

Driven by economic development, ideational changes and family planning policies, the Chinese family has experienced significant change over the past several decades. Based on data from the 2018 wave of the China Family Panel Studies, this study analyzes China’s younger generations’ union formation and childbearing behaviors. The results show that although the average age of entry into a first marriage continues to rise, young people generally express a desire to enter into marriage and value the creation of a family. As premarital cohabitation became more prevalent, its determinants change from the “second demographic transition” model to the “pattern of disadvantage” model. The differences between cohabitors and non-cohabitors in premarital conception, premarital childbirth and divorce diminished in the recent cohorts. The findings suggest that the age of childbearing for Chinese women remains relatively early. The implementation of the “universal two-child policy” in 2015 has also encouraged younger women’s childbearing. Among those born in the 1980s, almost half have already given birth to a second child. The ideal number of children has declined across birth cohorts in China, especially for individuals with a higher educational level and urban hukou. In summary, changes in union formation and childbearing among Chinese youth imply that China will be facing a further rise in the first marriage age and a further decline in the fertility rate. However, voluntary singlehood will remain rare, and Chinese youth still value the importance of marriage and childbearing.

The role of premarital cohabitation in the timing of first birth in China

Background: Premarital cohabitation has become an increasingly popular pathway to marriage in China. However, we lack studies on its role in the timing of first birth.

Predicting Parenting and Stepparenting Difficulties among Newly Remarried Parents

ABSTRACT Positive parent-child relationships in cases of remarriage are associated with more harmonious stepfamily relationships; however, little research has focused on factors influencing parenting difficulties in early remarriage. In this study, we examine factors that are associated with parenting and stepparenting difficulties for newly remarried biological parents and stepparents from a family systems theory perspective. Regression analyses indicate that greater perceived marital stability was associated with fewer parenting difficulties for all parental roles, while premarital cohabitation was associated with fewer stepparenting difficulties for stepmothers. With the exception of biological mothers, number of dependent children was associated with greater parenting difficulties for all parental roles. Practical implications are discussed.

Does premarital cohabitation increase the likelihood of future marital dissolution?

Does premarital cohabitation increase the likelihood of future marital dissolution?