Cohabitation and children's living arrangements

Sheela Kennedy and Larry L. Bumpass
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Sheela Kennedy: University of Michigan
Larry L. Bumpass: University of Wisconsin–Madison

Demographic Research, 2008, vol. 19, issue 47, 1663-1692

Abstract: This paper uses the 1995 and 2002 waves of the National Survey of Family Growth to examine recent trends in cohabitation in the United States. We find increases in both the prevalence and duration of unmarried cohabitation. Cohabitation continues to transform children’s family lives, as children are increasingly likely to be born to a cohabiting mother (18% during 1997-2001) or to experience their mother’s entry into a cohabiting union. Consequently, we estimate that two-fifths of all children spend some time in a cohabiting family by age 12. Because of substantial missing data in the 2002 NSFG, we are unable to produce new estimates of divorce and children’s time in single-parent families. Nonetheless, our results point to the steady growth of cohabitation and to the evolving role of cohabitation in U.S. family life.

Keywords: cohabitation; family dynamics; children; family structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:19:y:2008:i:47

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.47

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