Manning, Wendy D.

English

Bowling Green State University: ScholarWorks@BGSU

Bowling Green State University ScholarWorks@BGSU National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles Sociology 2010 FP-10-07 Trends in Cohabitation: Twenty Years of Change, 1987-2008 Wendy D. Manning Bowling Green State University, wmannin@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 Manning, Wendy D., "FP-10-07 Trends in Cohabitation: Twenty Years of Change, 1987-2008" (2010). National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles. 143. https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ncfmr_family_profiles/143 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. NCFMRFamily Profiles005 Williams Hall • Bowling Green State University • Bowling Green, OH 43403http://ncfmr.bgsu.edu • 419.372.4910 • ncfmr@bgsu.eduFamily Profiles examine topics related to NCFMR’s core research themes. Data are presented at both the national and state levels using new data sources. Written for both researchers and broad communities, these profiles summarize the latest statistics on U.S. families.Trends in Cohabitation: Twenty Years  of Change, 1987-2008FP-10-07Change in Cohabitation in the U.S., 1987-2008This profile presents findings about shifts in the percentage of women who have ever cohabited and cohabited prior to their first marriage over the last two decades. Relying on indicators of current cohabitation status is informative (NCFMR FP-10-02), but does not capture women’s cumulative experiences with cohabitation. Given the relative short duration of cohabiting unions (about 18 months), it is important to evaluate women’s lifetime experience and not just their status at the time of interview. We provide two decades of trends on cohabitation by drawing on three published articles (Bumpass and Sweet, 1989; Bumpass and Lu, 2000; and Kennedy and Bumpass, 2008) as well as our own updated analyses of the 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG).  For more information about the NSFG, see 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth (NCFMR’s The Data Source) and NSFG web page.Figure 1: Two Decades of Trends by Age in the Percentage of Women (19-44) Ever CohabitedSources: 1987 NSFH data, Bumpass and Sweet, 1989; 1995 NSFG data, Bumpass and Lu, 2000; 2002 NSFG data, Kennedy and Bumpass, 2008; 2006-2008 NSFG data, NCFMR analyses.Percentage of Women Who Ever Cohabited • The percentage of women ages 19-44 who have ever cohabited has increased by 75% over the past 20 years. In 1987, one-third of women had ever cohabited, and in 2006-2008, over half (58%) had ever cohabited (Figure 1). • An increase in cohabitation experience exists for every age group. The age group with the greatest level of cohabitation in 2006-2008 is women ages 30-34; nearly 70% had ever cohabited.• The greatest increase (163%) in cohabitation occurred among women ages 40-44, and the smallest increase was among the youngest women (19-24). Over the last two decades, there has been a 40% increase in cohabitation experience among women ages 19-24.This profile draws on estimates published in the following articles:Bumpass, L., & Lu, H. (2000). Trends in cohabitation and implications for children’s family contexts in the United   States. Population Studies, 54, 29-41.Bumpass, L., & Sweet, J. (1989). National estimates of cohabitation. Demography, 26(4), 615-625. Kennedy, S., & Bumpass, L. (2008). Cohabitation and children’s living arrangements: New estimates from the United    States. Demographic Research, 19, 1663-1692. doi:10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.47TotalNCFMRFamily ProfilesSources: 1987 NSFH data,  Bumpass and Sweet, 1989; 1995 NSFG data, Bumpass and Lu, 2000; 2002 NSFG data, Kennedy and Bumpass, 2008; 2006-2008 NSFG data, NCFMR analyses.Percentage of Marriages Preceded by Cohabitation• Cohabitation is now the typical pathway into marriage, such that about two-thirds of women first married in the last decade cohabited prior to marriage (Figure 2).• Relatively few (11%) of women who first married between 1965 and 1974 cohabited prior to marriage. Approximately half of women first married 15 years ago (1985-89) cohabited  before marrying.2Figure 2:  Two Decades of Trends in the Percentage of Women (19-44) Who Cohabited Prior to First MarriagePercentage of All Current Unions that are Cohabiting Unions• About one-fifth of all current unions among women ages 19-44 are cohabiting unions, representing a doubling over the past twenty years (Figure 3). • Every age group has experienced an increase in the proportion of current unions that were cohabiting rather than married. Younger women have consistently had larger proportions of unions that were cohabiting. In 2006-2008, half of 19-24 year old’s in a union were in a cohabiting union.Figure 3:  Two Decades of Trends in the Percentage of Women (19-44) in Unions Currently Cohabiting Sources: 1987 NSFH data,  Bumpass and Sweet, 1989; 1995 NSFG data, Bumpass and Lu, 2000; 2002 NSFG data, Kennedy and Bumpass, 2008; 2006-2008 NSFG data, NCFMR analyses.TotalNCFMRFamily Profiles32363047 454054575259 61560%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%White Non-Hispanic Black Non-Hispanic Hispanic1987199520022006-08Change in Cohabitation Experience and Race/Ethnicity• Cohabitation experience has risen for all race and ethnic groups over the past 20 years (Figure 4). White non-Hispanic (86%) and Hispanic (86%) women experienced a greater increase in cohabitation compared to Black (69%) women.• Consistently, a larger proportion of Black women—compared to White non-Hispanic and Hispanic women—have ever cohabited. However, the race and ethnic gap in cohabitation is relatively small.Sources: 1987 NSFH data,  Bumpass and Sweet, 1989; 1995 NSFG data, Bumpass and Lu, 2000; 2002 NSFG data, Kennedy and Bumpass, 2008; 2006-2008 NSFG data, NCFMR analyses.Figure 5: Two Decades of Trends by Education in the Percentage of Women (19-44) Ever CohabitedSources: 1987 NSFH data,  Bumpass and Sweet, 1989; 1995 NSFG data, Bumpass and Lu, 2000; 2002 NSFG data, Kennedy and Bumpass, 2008; 2006-2008 NSFG data, NCFMR analyses.Figure 4: Two Decades of Trends by Race/Ethnicity in the Percentage of Women (19-44) Ever Cohabiting3Suggested Citation:Manning, W. D. (2010).Trends in Cohabitation: Twenty Years  of Change,  1987-2008 (FP-10-07). National Center for Family & Marriage Research. Retrieved from http://ncfmr.bgsu.edu/pdf/family_profiles/file87411.pdfThis project was supported with a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and HumanServices, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, grant number 5 UOIAEOOOOOI-04. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s)and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the Federalgovernment.4332 30 315850403764 634945736952470%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%Less than12 years12 Years College1-3 yearsCollege4+ years1987199520022006-08Cohabitation Experience and Educational Attainment• Cohabitation has increased among women in each educational attainment category (Figure 5).  The education group experiencing the greatest increase in cohabitation is women with 12 years of schooling; there has been over a 100% increase in cohabitation experience over the last 20 years for this group.• The education group with the greatest cohabitation experience is women with less than 12 years of education. In 2006-2008, nearly three-quarters of women without a high school degree had ever cohabited, in contrast to slightly less than half of women with a college degree. The education divide in the cohabitation experience has been increasing.

FP-10-07 Trends in Cohabitation: Twenty Years of Change, 1987-2008

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FP-10-07 Trends in Cohabitation: Twenty Years of Change, 1987-2008

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