Allred, Colette A.

English

Bowling Green State University: ScholarWorks@BGSU

Bowling Green State University ScholarWorks@BGSU National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles Sociology 2019 FP-19-10 High School Seniors’ Attitudes Toward Cohabitation as a Testing Ground for Marriage, 2017 Colette A. Allred Bowling Green State University, callred@bgsu.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ncfmr_family_profiles  Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons Repository Citation Allred, Colette A., "FP-19-10 High School Seniors’ Attitudes Toward Cohabitation as a Testing Ground for Marriage, 2017" (2019). National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles. 193. https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ncfmr_family_profiles/193 This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Sociology at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@BGSU. As the average age at first marriage continues to rise in the U.S., the number of adults in premarital cohabitingrelationships has increased as well (FP-17-22; FP-17-02). Between the early 1980s and the early 2010s, the share ofwomen who cohabited with their first husband prior to marriage increased by 75% (FP-17-05). Accompanying this shift inbehavior is a shift in attitudes. Using Monitoring the Future data, this profile examines four decades of change in highschool seniors’ attitudes toward cohabitation as a testing ground for marriage. The attitude measure is based onrespondents’ agreement or disagreement (neutral responses are not shown) with the statement “It is usually a good ideafor a couple to live together before getting married in order to find out whether they really get along.” This profile is anupdate of analyses using 2014 data (FP-16-13) and is the first in a three-part series analyzing high school seniors’attitudes toward and expectations regarding cohabitation and marriage. High School Seniors’ Attitudes Toward Cohabitationas a Testing Ground for Marriage, 2017National Center for Family & Marriage ResearchNCFMRBGSUFP-19-10Colette AllredAttitudes Toward Cohabitation as a Testing Ground for Marriage Over Time The share of high school seniors whoagreed with the notion of cohabitationas a testing ground for marriagecontinuously increased over the past40 years.While roughly equal portions of highschool seniors in 1976 agreed ordisagreed about whether cohabitationas a testing ground for marriage wasa good idea, s even in ten agreed andless than two in ten disagreed by2017.  Figure 1. High School Seniors’ Attitudes Toward Cohabitation as a Testing Ground forMarriage, 1976-2017   Source: Monitoring the Future, 1976-2017   Figure 2. High School Seniors’ Agreement with Cohabitation as a Testing Groundfor Marriage by Parental Education, 2017   Source: Monitoring the Future, 1976 & 2017  Attitudes Toward Cohabitation as a Testing Ground for Marriage by Parental Educational Attainment The share of high school seniors whoagreed with cohabitation as a testingground for marriage increased acrossall four categories of parental educationbetween 1976 and 2017.In 1976 and 2017, those whose parentshad less than a high school educationleast often agreed with cohabitation asa testing ground for marriage.At 73%, a slightly higher portion ofthose whose parents had at least abachelor’s degree in 2017 agreed withcohabitation as a testing ground formarriage in comparison to those whoseparents had lower levels of educationalattainment. In 1976, the highest sharewas among those whose parents hadsome college education.    <H.S. H.S./GED Some College Bachelor's+37% 41% 42% 40%71% 72% 72% 73%0501001976 2017AgreeDisagree1976 1986 1996 2006 2014 201705010015%72%This project is supported with assistance from Bowling Green State University.From 2007 to 2013, support was also provided by the U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning andEvaluation. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those ofthe author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions orpolicy of any agency of the state or federal government.Family Profiles: Original reports summarizingand analyzing nationally representative datawith the goal to provide the latest analysis ofU.S. families. These profiles examine topicsrelated to the NCFMR's core research themes.419.372.3119 ncfmr@bgsu.edu Suggested Citation:  http://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmrAllred, C. (2019). High school seniors’ attitudes toward cohabitation as a testing ground for marriage, 2017. Family Profiles, FP-19-10.Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-19-10. Attitudes Toward Cohabitation as a Testing Ground for Marriage by GenderFigure 3. High School Seniors’ Agreement with Cohabitationas a Testing Ground for Marriage by Gender, 2017   Source: Monitoring the Future, 1976 & 2017   More young men were agreeable with cohabitation asa testing ground for marriage than young women in1976 and in 2017, although the gender gap hasdecreased over time.While barely half of young men and a third of youngwomen agreed with cohabitation as a testing groundfor marriage in 1976, close to three-quarters of youngmen and women were in favor in 2017. Men Women48%35%75% 69%0501001976 2017References:  Eickmeyer, K. J., Payne, K. K., Brown, S. L., & Manning, W. D. (2017). Crossover in the median age at first marriage and first birth: Thirty-Fiveyears of change. Family Profiles, FP-17-22. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research.https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/eickmeyer-payne-brown-manning-crossover-age-first-marriage-birth-fp-17-22.html  Hemez, P. & Manning, W. D. (2017). Thirty years of change in women’s premarital cohabitation experience. Family Profiles, FP-17-05. BowlingGreen, OH: National Center for Family and Marriage Research. https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/hemez-manning-30-yrs-change-women-premarital-cohab-fp-17-05.html Hemez, P. & Manning, W. D. (2017). Over twenty-five years of change in cohabitation experience in the U.S., 1987-2013. Family Profiles, FP-17-02. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family and Marriage Research. https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/hemez-manning-25-years-change-cohabitation-fp-17-02.html Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (MTF) began in 1975 as a repeated annual survey onvalues, attitudes, and lifestyle orientations of high school seniors in the U.S. The most recent data represent theexperiences of students in 2017. Each year, a nationally representative sample of 12th graders completes the survey,producing 40+ years of annual snapshots of high school seniors. Additionally, a subset of each annual sample is re-interviewed biannually for twelve years and every five years thereafter producing longitudinal data. MTF also examinesthe experiences of young adolescents. Since 1991, MTF has included nationally representative samples of 8th through10th graders. Link to project website:   What is the Monitoring the Future project?

FP-19-10 High School Seniors’ Attitudes Toward Cohabitation as a Testing Ground for Marriage, 2017

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FP-19-10 High School Seniors’ Attitudes Toward Cohabitation as a Testing Ground for Marriage, 2017

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