Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the "Trial Marriage" Theory?
A number of studies show that premarital cohabitation is associated with an increased risk of subsequent marital dissolution. Some argue that this is a consequence of selection effects and that once these are controlled for premarital cohabitation has no effect on dissolution. We examine the effect...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
2010-11-01
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| Series: | Demographic Research |
| Online Access: | http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol23/31/ |
| _version_ | 1818269533051289600 |
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| author | PJ Boyle Hill Kulu |
| author_facet | PJ Boyle Hill Kulu |
| author_sort | PJ Boyle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A number of studies show that premarital cohabitation is associated with an increased risk of subsequent marital dissolution. Some argue that this is a consequence of selection effects and that once these are controlled for premarital cohabitation has no effect on dissolution. We examine the effect of premarital cohabitation on subsequent marital dissolution by using rich retrospective life-history data from Austria. We model union formation and dissolution jointly to control for unobserved selectivity of cohabiters and non-cohabiters. Our results show that those who cohabit prior to marriage have a higher risk of marital dissolution. However, once observed and unobserved characteristics are controlled for, the risks of marital dissolution for those who cohabit prior to marriage are significantly lower than for those who marry directly. The finding that premarital cohabitation decreases the risk of marital separation provides support for the "trial marriage" theory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T20:55:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bce2d9c880894a7c9de9645be1190923 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1435-9871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T20:55:53Z |
| publishDate | 2010-11-01 |
| publisher | Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Demographic Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-bce2d9c880894a7c9de9645be11909232022-12-22T00:12:18ZengMax Planck Institute for Demographic ResearchDemographic Research1435-98712010-11-012331Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the "Trial Marriage" Theory?PJ BoyleHill KuluA number of studies show that premarital cohabitation is associated with an increased risk of subsequent marital dissolution. Some argue that this is a consequence of selection effects and that once these are controlled for premarital cohabitation has no effect on dissolution. We examine the effect of premarital cohabitation on subsequent marital dissolution by using rich retrospective life-history data from Austria. We model union formation and dissolution jointly to control for unobserved selectivity of cohabiters and non-cohabiters. Our results show that those who cohabit prior to marriage have a higher risk of marital dissolution. However, once observed and unobserved characteristics are controlled for, the risks of marital dissolution for those who cohabit prior to marriage are significantly lower than for those who marry directly. The finding that premarital cohabitation decreases the risk of marital separation provides support for the "trial marriage" theory.http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol23/31/ |
| spellingShingle | PJ Boyle Hill Kulu Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the "Trial Marriage" Theory? Demographic Research |
| title | Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the "Trial Marriage" Theory? |
| title_full | Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the "Trial Marriage" Theory? |
| title_fullStr | Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the "Trial Marriage" Theory? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the "Trial Marriage" Theory? |
| title_short | Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the "Trial Marriage" Theory? |
| title_sort | premarital cohabitation and divorce support for the quot trial marriage quot theory |
| url | http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol23/31/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pjboyle premaritalcohabitationanddivorcesupportforthequottrialmarriagequottheory AT hillkulu premaritalcohabitationanddivorcesupportforthequottrialmarriagequottheory |