Using data from the first two waves of Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (1993 to 1994), this article examines the role of economic circumstances in cohabitation dissolution through legal marriage or union separation. Data are analyzed using discrete-time event history methods separately for women and men and for each of the competing exits. The results show economic deprivation contributes to union instability; an overall deterioration in household economic circumstances increases the risk of union separation. Conversely, for both cohabiting women and men, an increase in personal earnings raises the likelihood of union separation, indicative of an independence effect. Whereas semiprofessional and skilled women are more likely to dissolve their unions through separation, professional and semi-professional men are more apt to marry their partners. Furthermore, women with incomes below the low-income cut-off point are more likely to separate than women with higher incomes. Implications of these results are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agresti, A. (1990). Categorical data analysis. New York: John Wiley.
2.
Allison, P. D. (1984). Event history analysis: Regression for longitudinal event data. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
3.
Allison, P. D. (1995). Survival analysis using the SAS system: A practical guide. Gary, NC: SAS Institute.
4.
Becker, G. S. (1981). A treatise on the family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
5.
Becker, G. S. , Landes, E. M., & Michael, R. T. (1977). An economic analysis of marital instability. Journal of Political Economy, 85, 1141-1187.
6.
Bennett, N. G. , Blanc, A. K., & Bloom, D. E. (1988). Commitment and the modern union: Assessing the link between premarital cohabitation and subsequent marital stability. American Sociological Review, 53, 127-138.
7.
Bennett, N. G. , Bloom, D. E., & Craig, P. H. (1989). The divergence of Black and White marriage patterns. American Journal of Sociology, 95, 692-722.
8.
Blanc, A. K. (1987). The formation and dissolution of second unions: Marriage and cohabitation in Sweden and Norway. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 391-400.
9.
Blumstein, P. , & Schwartz, P. (1983). American couples. New York: McGraw-Hill.
10.
Bracher, M. , & Santow, G. (1998). Economic independence and union formation in Sweden. Population Studies, 52, 275-294.
11.
Bumpass, L. L. , & Sweet, J. A. (1989). National estimates of cohabitation. Demography, 26, 615-625.
12.
Bumpass, L. L. , Sweet, J. A., & Cherlin, A. (1991). The role of cohabitation in declining rates of marriage. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 913-927.
13.
Burch, T. K. , & Madan, A. K. (1986). Union formation and dissolution: Results from the 1984 family history survey (Catalogue 99-963). Ottawa, Canada: Statistics Canada.
14.
Carmichael, G. A. (1990). A cohort analysis of marriage and informal cohabitation among Australian men. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 27, 53-72.
15.
Cox, D. R. (1972). Regression models and life tables (with discussion). Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, SeriesB34, 187-220.
16.
Davis, K. (1985). The meaning and significance of marriage in contemporary society. In K. Davis (Ed.), Contemporary marriage: Comparative perspectives on a changing institution (pp. 1-21). New York: Russell Sage.
17.
Dumas, J. , & Péron, Y. (1992). Marriage and conjugal life in Canada (Catalogue 91-534E). Ottawa, Canada: Statistics Canada.
18.
Goldscheider, F. K. , & Waite, L. J. (1986). Sex differences in the entry into marriage. American Journal of Sociology, 92, 91-109.
19.
Hoem, B. , & Hoem, J. M. (1992). The disruption of marital and non-marital unions in contemporary Sweden. In J. Trussell, R. Hankinson, & J. Tilton (Eds.), Demographic applications of event history analysis (pp. 61-93). New York: Oxford University Press.
20.
Kalbfleisch, J. D. , & Prentice, R. L. (1980). Analysis of failure time data. New York: John Wiley.
21.
Landale, N. S. , & Forste, R. (1991). Patterns of entry into cohabitation and marriage among mainland Puerto Rican women. Demography, 28, 587-607.
22.
Larson, L. E. , Goltz, J. W., & Hobart, C. W. (1994). Families in Canada. Scarborough, Canada: Prentice-Hall Canada, Inc.
23.
Le Bourdais, C. , & Marcil-Gratton, N. (1996). Family transformations across the Canadian/American border: When the laggard becomes the leader. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 27, 415-436.
24.
Lefebvre, P. , & Merrigan, P. (1997). Social assistance and conjugal union dissolution in Canada: A dynamic analysis. Canadian Journal of Economics, 30, 112-134.
25.
Leridon, H. (1990). Cohabitation, marriage, separation: An analysis of life histories of French cohorts from 1968 to 1985. Population Studies, 44, 127-144.
26.
Lichter, D. T. , McLaughlin, D. K., Kephart, G., & Landry, D. J. (1992). Race and the retreat from marriage: A shortage of marriageable men?American Sociological Review, 57, 781-799.
27.
Lillard, L. A. , Brien, M. J., & Waite, L. J. (1995). Premarital cohabitation and subsequent marital dissolution: A matter of self-selection?Demography, 32, 437-457.
28.
MacDonald, M. M. , & Rindfuss, R. R. (1981). Earnings, relative income, and family formation. Demography, 18, 123-136.
29.
Manning, W. D. , & Smock, P. J. (1995). Why marry? Race and the transition to marriage among cohabitors. Demography, 32, 509-520.
30.
Morgan, S. P. , & Rindfuss, R. R. (1985). Marital disruption: Structural and temporal dimensions. American Journal of Sociology, 90, 1055-1077.
31.
Morrison, R. J. , & Oderkirk, J. (1994). Married and unmarried couples: The tax question. In Canadian social trends (Vol. 2, pp. 183-188). Toronto, Canada: Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
32.
Oppenheimer, V. K. (1988). A theory of marriage timing. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 563-591.
33.
Oppenheimer, V. K. (1994). Women's rising employment and the future of the family in industrial societies. Population and Development Review, 20, 293-342.
34.
Oppenheimer, V. K. (1997). Women's employment and the gain to marriage: The specialization and trading model. Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 431-453.
35.
Oppenheimer, V. K. , Kalmijn, M., & Lim, N. (1997). Men's career development and marriage timing during a period of rising inequality. Demography, 34, 311-330.
36.
Oppenheimer, V. K. , & Lew, V. (1995). American marriage formation in the 1980s: How important was women's economic independence? In K. O. Mason & A. Jensen (Eds.), Gender and family change in industrialized countries (pp. 105-138). Oxford, UK: Clarendon.
37.
Raley, R. K. (1996). A shortage of marriageable men? A note on the role of cohabitation in Black-White differences in marriage rates. American Sociological Review, 61, 973-983.
38.
Ramsøy, N. R. (1994). Non-marital cohabitation and change in norms: The case of Norway. Acta Sociologica, 37, 23-37.
39.
Smock, P. J. , & Manning, W. D. (1997). Cohabiting partners' economic circumstances and marriage. Demography, 34, 331-341.
40.
South, S. J. , & Lloyd, K. M. (1995). Spousal alternatives and marital dissolution. American Sociological Review, 60, 21-35.
41.
South, S. J. , & Spitze, G. (1986). Determinants of divorce over the marital life course. American Sociological Review, 51, 583-590.
42.
Statistics Canada. (1999). Census [Online]. Available: http://www.statcan.ca/english/census96/list.htm
43.
Thornton, A. (1988). Cohabitation and marriage in the 1980s. Demography, 25, 497-508.
44.
Thornton, A. (1991). Influence of the marital history of parents on the marital and cohabitational experiences of children. American Journal of Sociology, 96, 868-894.
45.
Thornton, A. , Axinn, W. G., & Teachman, J. D. (1995). The influence of school enrollment and accumulation on cohabitation and marriage in early adulthood. American Sociological Review, 60, 762-774.
46.
Tzeng, J. M. , & Mare, R. D. (1995). Labor market and socioeconomic effects on marital stability. Social Science Research, 24, 329-351.
47.
Waite, L. J. , & Lillard, L. A. (1991). Children and marital disruption. American Journal of Sociology, 96, 930-953.
48.
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
49.
Wu, Z. (1995). The stability of cohabitation relationships: The role of children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 231-236.
50.
Wu, Z. , & Balakrishnan, T. R. (1994). Cohabitation after marital dissolution in Canada. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56, 723-734.
51.
Wu, Z. , & Balakrishnan, T. R. (1995). Dissolution of premarital cohabitation in Canada. Demography, 32, 521-532.
