Wendy D. Manning

Why Marry? Race and the Transition to Marriage among Cohabitors*

Our study investigates the transition to first marriage among cohabiting black and white men and women, drawing on data from the National Survey of Families and Households. Our results underscore the importance of economic factors on the transition to marriage for both black and white cohabitors. We also find that for black cohabitors, but not for whites, socioeconomic disadvantage during childhood reduces the odds of marriage. The presence of children in cohabiting unions tends to increase the chances of marrying a cohabiting partner for both blacks and whites. Our results demonstrate the importance of including cohabitation in research on the marriage process.

Cohabiting partners’ economic circumstances and marriage

Past studies of the transition to marriage generally have relied on information about only one individual or have attempted to measure characteristics of potential spouses indirectly. Drawing on data from the two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), we examine the effects of economic circumstances of both partners in cohabiting unions on the transition to marriage. Focusing on both partners in a relationship affords a more direct test of the relative importance of men’s versus women s economic circumstances. Our findings suggest that only the male partner’s economic resources affect the transition to marriage, with positive economic situations accelerating marriage and deterring separation. Our results imply that despite trends toward egalitarian gender-role attitudes and increasing income provision among women, cohabiting men s economic circumstances carry far more weight than women’s in marriage formation.

The effect of marriage and divorce on women's economic well-being

This article focuses on the question of whether divorced women would experience the same absolute levels of economic well being by staying married as women who remain married experience. The study additionally examines the argument that all women are economically vulnerable once marriage ends by examining whether the average married women would if she were to divorce experience the same low levels of economic well being as divorced women do. Longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and Households are utilized to estimate endogenous switching regression models that simultaneously predict the odds of divorce and subsequent economic well being for women who divorce and for those who remain married. Findings suggest that divorced women would not fare as well economically as married women had they remained married instead of divorcing. This study concludes that women generally are economically vulnerable outside marriage. By virtue of the division of labor in marriage many women still accrue lower levels and less continuity of employment than their husbands. This study indicates that the typical married woman would experience the same financial distress if she were to divorce thus underscoring womens economic vulnerability.

Hooking Up: The Relationship Contexts of "Nonrelationship" Sex.

More than one half of sexually active teens have had sexual partners they are not dating. However, remarkably little is known about the nature of these sexual relationships. Using survey and qualitative data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study the authors contrast the qualities of dating sexual relationships and sexual relationships that occur out-side the dating context. They find that adolescents having sex outside of the dating context are choosing partners who are friends or ex-girlfriends and/or boyfriends. Moreover, one third of these nondating sexual partnerships are associated with hopes or expectations that the relationship will lead to more conventional dating relationships. Boys and girls who experience sex outside of conventional dating relationships often share similar orientations toward their relationship. Results suggest that a more nuanced view is key to understanding adolescent sexual behavior.

Racial and ethnic differences in the role of cohabitation in premarital childbearing.

The research reported in this article focuses on the role of cohabitation in premarital childbearing among U.S. women. Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households and the New York Fertility, Employment and Migration Survey, we examine the influence of cohabitation on the likelihood of premarital pregnancy and the decision to marry between premarital conception and birth. Our analyses show marked racial and ethnic differences in the role of the cohabiting union in family building. Although cohabitation increases the rate of premarital pregnancy for all women, its effect is much greater among Puerto Ricans than among non-Hispanic Whites and African Americans. Cohabitation accelerates the transition to marriage among premaritally pregnant White women, but has no effect among Blacks and has a strong negative effect among Puerto Ricans. We interpret our findings in terms of long-standing family patterns and cultural traditions within each group. A common practice in demographic studies is to treat nonmarital childbearing as equivalent to single motherhood in spite of the fact that births to unmarried women are increasingly occurring within cohabitation. In the early 1980s, about one-quarter (27%) of nonmarital births in the United States were to women living in cohabiting unions (Bumpass & Sweet, 1989). There is considerable variation in this phenomenon by race and ethnicity. Among Puerto Ricans, over half (59%) of nonmarital births occurred within informal unions during this period (Landale & Hauan, 1992), in contrast to 40% among Mexican Americans, 29% among non-Hispanic Whites, and 18% among African Americans (Bumpass & Sweet, 1989). Moreover, births within cohabitation account for differences in the proportion of children born outside of marriage among Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans, and non-Hispanic Whites (Bumpass & Sweet, 1989; Landale & Hauan, 1992). Despite the growing prevalence of cohabitation prior to marriage, few studies have considered the role of informal unions in premarital childbearing. Studies conducted in other countries (e.g., Balakrishnan, 1989; Cooper, 1991; Haskey & Kiernan, 1989; Leridon & Villeneuve-Gokalp, 1989) indicate that cohabitation is associated with a higher likelihood of childbearing among unmarried women. Although this linkage has not been examined in the U.S. context, a similar association is likely. Studies based on U.S. data show that never-married cohabiting women expect to have children sooner, have more frequent intercourse, and are more likely to approve of unmarried childbearing than their noncohabiting single counterparts (Bachrach, 1987; Rindfuss & VandenHeuvel, 1990; Sweet & Bumpass, 1990). Furthermore, cohabiting women are more likely to have greater commitment to their sexual partners than are noncohabiting women. The research reported here focuses on the role of cohabitation in childbearing among U.S. women who have never been married. Both the numbers presented above and research on the meaning of cohabitation for various racial and ethnic groups (e.g., Landale & Fennelly, 1992; Loomis & Landale, 1994; Manning, 1993) suggest potential group differences in the effect of cohabitation on the fertility of never-married women. Thus, the central questions we address are whether and to what extent cohabitation differentially influences entry into premarital motherhood by race and ethnicity. Our analyses focus on two key components of the process; leading to premarital motherhood: (a) the occurrence of a premarital pregnancy that results in a live birth and (b) the decision to marry between premarital conception and the birth of the child. Comparisons are made between cohabiting and noncohabiting African American, Puerto Rican, and non-Hispanic White women. We restrict our analyses and discussion of Puerto Ricans to those living in the mainland United States. For ease of presentation, w refer to this group as Puerto Ricans without further qualification throughout the text. …

Marriage and Cohabitation Following Premarital Conception.

The role of cohabitation in the legitimation of premarital conceptions is considered using data on a sample of 920 women from the [U.S.] National Survey of Families and Households....Cohabitation does not appear to be a substitute for marriage....Findings indicate that cohabitation is part of the legitimation process and that it influences white womens and black womens marital behavior differently. This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1992 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America. (EXCERPT)

Self-Esteem, Depressive Symptoms, and Adolescents' Sexual Onset

We examine whether self-esteem and depressive symptoms influence sexual onset when important controls such as age, dating, race, and income are examined. Analyses are based on the first two waves of the restricted-use sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. We examine adolescents who reported at wave 1 that they had not had sexual intercourse. Using logistic regression models run separately for males and for females, we find that depressive symptoms, when entered simultaneously, exert a greater effect than self-esteem on sexual onset. Depressive symptoms have less effect on sexual onset for African-American girls than for white girls. Higher self-esteem is associated with greater likelihood of sexual debut at older ages for boys. Our findings suggest that although many positive benefits of self-esteem have been suggested, the conceptual and empirical link between depressive symptoms and adolescent sexual onset may be more crucial.

Childbearing in cohabiting unions: racial and ethnic differences.

CONTEXT Cohabitation provides a two-parent family union in which to have and raise children outside of marriage. Little is known, however, about the conditions under which cohabiting couples conceive and decide to have children. METHODS The National Survey of Family Growth provides detailed data on the cohabitation and fertility histories of American women. Life-table techniques, event-history analyses and logistic regression were employed to understand the racial and ethnic differences in the timing of childbearing within cohabiting unions and whether childbearing within cohabiting unions is more acceptable to members of minorities than to whites. RESULTS In multivariate models, Hispanic women were found to be 77% more likely than white women to conceive a child in cohabitation and black women were 69% more likely than white women to do so. Among women who became pregnant while cohabiting, Hispanic women were almost twice as likely and black women were three times as likely as white women to remain cohabiting with their partner when their child was born. In addition, children born to Hispanic women in cohabiting unions were found to be 70% more likely to be intended than were those born to cohabiting white women. CONCLUSIONS In terms of fertility, cohabitation does not maintain the same place in the American family system for all racial and ethnic groups. These racial and ethnic differences in fertility-related behavior are not explained by socioeconomic differences. Based on levels of childbearing during cohabitation, relationship status at time of birth and intention status of children, it appears that cohabitation is a more acceptable arena for family building among Hispanic women than among whites or blacks.

Family Boundary Ambiguity and the Measurement of Family Structure: The Significance of Cohabitation

We used data from the first wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine family boundary ambiguity in adolescent and mother reports of family structure and found that the greater the family complexity, the more likely adolescent and mother reports of family structure were discrepant. This boundary ambiguity in reporting was most pronounced for cohabiting stepfamilies. Among mothers who reported living with a cohabiting partner, only one-third of their teenage children also reported residing in a cohabiting stepfamily. Conversely, for those adolescents who reported their family structure as a cohabiting stepfamily, just two-thirds of their mothers agreed. Levels of agreement between adolescents and mothers about residing in a two-biological-parent family, single-mother family, or married stepfamily were considerably higher. Estimates of the distribution of adolescents across family structures vary according to whether adolescent, mother, or combined reports are used. Moreover, the relationship between family structure and family processes differed depending on whose reports of family structure were used, and boundary ambiguity was associated with several key family processes. Family boundary ambiguity presents an important measurement challenge for family scholars.

Cohabitation, Marriage, and Entry into Motherhood.

Findings indicate that there are racial differences in the effect of cohabitation on the life courses of Black and White women. The Teachman and Polonko model of union formation is partly supported. Cohabitation does not in itself promote childbearing. The time spent in cohabitation and the first 8 months of marriage determine first births. Findings show that cohabiting White women are more likely to be pregnant when marrying than noncohabiting White women. Marriage is more likely among cohabiting White women who are pregnant than noncohabiting White women. The transition to first marital birth is the same for noncohabiting White women and cohabiting White women who are not pregnant. Among Black women the probability of marriage before their first birth is the same for pregnant cohabiting women and never married women. The results suggest that cohabitation does not replace marriage as the context for childbearing but is the context for White women in the transition to marriage. The effect of cohabitation on first birth timing is dependent on the duration of time spent cohabiting. White women cohabiting for over a year are 93% more likely to have a first birth within the first 8 months of marriage and 65% more likely to have a first birth within the first year of marriage than noncohabiting women. White women who cohabited between 7 months and 1 year are 108% more likely to have their first birth in the first half of the second year of marriage than noncohabiting women. White women cohabiting within 7 months and 1 year have the same likelihood of a marital first birth at all other marital durations as noncohabiting women. Data is obtained from the 1987 and 1988 National Survey of Families and Households on White and Black women who first married between 1970 and 1984 without a first birth before marriage and who were aged less than 30 years (1311 marriages and 745 cohabiting unions before marriage). 1763 women out of 2056 women in the sample have a marital first birth during the first 3 years of marriage (1555 White women and 208 Black women).