Laurence Charton

La première mise en couple en Suisse : choix du type d'union et devenir de la cohabitation hors mariage

Changes in family formation behaviour are responsible for the coexistence of two forms of union in the developed countries: the fairly “flexible” extramarital cohabitation, and the more formal or official form, marriage. Cohabitation is on the increase in Switzerland, currently accounting for nearly 9 in 10 newly-formed couples, but marriage is still considered the necessary condition for starting a family and the level of extramarital births remains among the lowest in Europe. In this context, it is highly instructive to study the factors that influence decisions about the form of the first union and the duration of non-marital cohabitation. The main finding of this article based on a survey of the family is that decisions about type of union are strongly influenced by religious observance, the fact of being pregnant, and economic circumstances. While educational attainment appears not to modify the form of union chosen at the time of couple formation, it is associated with the durations of premarital cohabitation.

Low Fertility and Contraceptive Sterilization: The Canadian Case

This article presents fertility variations among the Canadian regions and analyses the paths leading to the choice of contraceptive sterilization. Based on data from the 2001 General Social Survey, the research shows that while every region has adopted a low fertility regime, substantial differences are observed among women aged 40-49 in 2001: Quebec couples had fewer children; among those in stable unions, Quebec couples were also more likely to choose contraceptive sterilization, while this was not the case among those couples where at least one of the spouses was in a second union; moreover, couples in such unions were less likely to have a common child in Quebec than in other regions. In the end, if regional differences in the choice of sterilization persist, they are not large, and this choice is driven by fertility decisions everywhere.

‘We or them,’ ‘you and I,’ and ‘I’: spaces of intimacy and (not so) public displays of affection in Hanoi

Abstract Through an exploratory study of romantic heterosexual couples in a public park situated in Hanoi’s outskirts, this article offers a conceptual rethinking of a western understanding of the park’s public/private dichotomy which can then be used to better appreciate how these categories are evolving in western urbanizing societies and their impacts on gender relations. By developing a relational, spatialized understanding of how young romantic couples justify their ‘transgressive’ displays of sexual intimacy in public spaces in contemporary urban Vietnam, this article focuses on how couples, especially women, manage their visibility. This analysis confronts the public civilizational discourse on Vietnamese sexual restraint by analyzing how young couples justify their romantic displays by creating an intimate space within a public environment. This space of visible intimacy is justified through their commitment to marriage. For the individuals involved in these romantic couples, visibility is justified, particularly for young women, through the enjoyment of a newly gained sexual autonomy as they migrate to the city.