Family Forerunners? Parental Separation and Partnership Formation in 16 Countries

Juho Härkönen; M.D. Brons; Jaap Dronkers

doi:10.1111/jomf.12682

Family Forerunners? Parental Separation and Partnership Formation in 16 Countries

Juho Härkönen
, M.D. Brons
, Jaap Dronkers

European University Institute
KNAW-NIDI
Stockholm University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Objective
To analyze the relationships between parental separation and partnership formation patterns across 16 countries and over time, and how the relationships are shaped by contextual factors.

Background
Several studies have found that parental separation predicts higher rates of cohabitation and lower rates of marriage. Few studies have analyzed these relationships over time or across countries, and none have systematically analyzed whether they are moderated by contextual factors.

Method
Retrospective partnership histories on 138,739 women and men from the Generations and Gender Survey and Harmonized Histories datafiles were used. Monthly data on entry into cohabitation or marriage as the first coresidential union, and on entry into marriage were analyzed using life table and event history techniques. The overall incidences of parental separation and of premarital cohabitation were used as contextual‐level measures in the event history analyses.

Results
The association between parental separation and partnership formation was moderated by the spread of premarital cohabitation. Higher incidence of cohabitation was associated with a weaker positive association between parental separation and cohabitation, and a more negative association between parental separation and marriage. The associations between parental separation and partnership formation were not weaker when parental separation was more common.

Conclusion
Children of divorce have been among the forerunners of the increase in cohabitation and the retreat from marriage.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	119-136
Number of pages	18
Journal	Journal of Marriage and Family
Volume	83
Issue number	1
Early online date	1 May 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12682
Publication status	Published - Feb 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was initiated before our third author, Jaap Dronkers's, untimely death. He took part in formulating the research question, planning the design, and working on a very first version of the text. We (Härkönen and Brons) have treated Jaap's contribution respectfully and critically, and we carry ultimate responsibility for the final version and for any possible errors therein. The authors would like to thank the participants in various conferences and seminars for valuable comments. The research has been supported by Norface‐DIAL project “CRITEVENTS: Critical Life Events and the Dynamics of Inequality: Risk, Vulnerability and Cumulative Advantage”. CRITEVENTS is financially supported by the NORFACE Joint Research Programme on Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life‐course, which is cofunded by the European Commission through Horizon 2020 under grant agreement No 724363. The research leading to these results has also received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007‐2013)/European Research Council Grant Agreement 324178 (Project: Contexts of Opportunity. Principle Investigator: Aart C. Liefbroer).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Marriage and Family published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.

Keywords

cohabitation
divorce
family formation
marriage
separation
transnational

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Cite this

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title = "Family Forerunners? Parental Separation and Partnership Formation in 16 Countries",

abstract = "Objective To analyze the relationships between parental separation and partnership formation patterns across 16 countries and over time, and how the relationships are shaped by contextual factors. Background Several studies have found that parental separation predicts higher rates of cohabitation and lower rates of marriage. Few studies have analyzed these relationships over time or across countries, and none have systematically analyzed whether they are moderated by contextual factors. Method Retrospective partnership histories on 138,739 women and men from the Generations and Gender Survey and Harmonized Histories datafiles were used. Monthly data on entry into cohabitation or marriage as the first coresidential union, and on entry into marriage were analyzed using life table and event history techniques. The overall incidences of parental separation and of premarital cohabitation were used as contextual‐level measures in the event history analyses. Results The association between parental separation and partnership formation was moderated by the spread of premarital cohabitation. Higher incidence of cohabitation was associated with a weaker positive association between parental separation and cohabitation, and a more negative association between parental separation and marriage. The associations between parental separation and partnership formation were not weaker when parental separation was more common. Conclusion Children of divorce have been among the forerunners of the increase in cohabitation and the retreat from marriage.",

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author = "Juho H{\"a}rk{\"o}nen and M.D. Brons and Jaap Dronkers",

note = "Funding Information: This study was initiated before our third author, Jaap Dronkers's, untimely death. He took part in formulating the research question, planning the design, and working on a very first version of the text. We (H{\"a}rk{\"o}nen and Brons) have treated Jaap's contribution respectfully and critically, and we carry ultimate responsibility for the final version and for any possible errors therein. The authors would like to thank the participants in various conferences and seminars for valuable comments. The research has been supported by Norface‐DIAL project “CRITEVENTS: Critical Life Events and the Dynamics of Inequality: Risk, Vulnerability and Cumulative Advantage”. CRITEVENTS is financially supported by the NORFACE Joint Research Programme on Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life‐course, which is cofunded by the European Commission through Horizon 2020 under grant agreement No 724363. The research leading to these results has also received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007‐2013)/European Research Council Grant Agreement 324178 (Project: Contexts of Opportunity. Principle Investigator: Aart C. Liefbroer). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 The Authors. Journal of Marriage and Family published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.",

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doi = "10.1111/jomf.12682",

language = "English",

volume = "83",

pages = "119--136",

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AU - Härkönen, Juho

AU - Brons, M.D.

AU - Dronkers, Jaap

N1 - Funding Information: This study was initiated before our third author, Jaap Dronkers's, untimely death. He took part in formulating the research question, planning the design, and working on a very first version of the text. We (Härkönen and Brons) have treated Jaap's contribution respectfully and critically, and we carry ultimate responsibility for the final version and for any possible errors therein. The authors would like to thank the participants in various conferences and seminars for valuable comments. The research has been supported by Norface‐DIAL project “CRITEVENTS: Critical Life Events and the Dynamics of Inequality: Risk, Vulnerability and Cumulative Advantage”. CRITEVENTS is financially supported by the NORFACE Joint Research Programme on Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life‐course, which is cofunded by the European Commission through Horizon 2020 under grant agreement No 724363. The research leading to these results has also received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007‐2013)/European Research Council Grant Agreement 324178 (Project: Contexts of Opportunity. Principle Investigator: Aart C. Liefbroer). Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Marriage and Family published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.

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N2 - Objective To analyze the relationships between parental separation and partnership formation patterns across 16 countries and over time, and how the relationships are shaped by contextual factors. Background Several studies have found that parental separation predicts higher rates of cohabitation and lower rates of marriage. Few studies have analyzed these relationships over time or across countries, and none have systematically analyzed whether they are moderated by contextual factors. Method Retrospective partnership histories on 138,739 women and men from the Generations and Gender Survey and Harmonized Histories datafiles were used. Monthly data on entry into cohabitation or marriage as the first coresidential union, and on entry into marriage were analyzed using life table and event history techniques. The overall incidences of parental separation and of premarital cohabitation were used as contextual‐level measures in the event history analyses. Results The association between parental separation and partnership formation was moderated by the spread of premarital cohabitation. Higher incidence of cohabitation was associated with a weaker positive association between parental separation and cohabitation, and a more negative association between parental separation and marriage. The associations between parental separation and partnership formation were not weaker when parental separation was more common. Conclusion Children of divorce have been among the forerunners of the increase in cohabitation and the retreat from marriage.

AB - Objective To analyze the relationships between parental separation and partnership formation patterns across 16 countries and over time, and how the relationships are shaped by contextual factors. Background Several studies have found that parental separation predicts higher rates of cohabitation and lower rates of marriage. Few studies have analyzed these relationships over time or across countries, and none have systematically analyzed whether they are moderated by contextual factors. Method Retrospective partnership histories on 138,739 women and men from the Generations and Gender Survey and Harmonized Histories datafiles were used. Monthly data on entry into cohabitation or marriage as the first coresidential union, and on entry into marriage were analyzed using life table and event history techniques. The overall incidences of parental separation and of premarital cohabitation were used as contextual‐level measures in the event history analyses. Results The association between parental separation and partnership formation was moderated by the spread of premarital cohabitation. Higher incidence of cohabitation was associated with a weaker positive association between parental separation and cohabitation, and a more negative association between parental separation and marriage. The associations between parental separation and partnership formation were not weaker when parental separation was more common. Conclusion Children of divorce have been among the forerunners of the increase in cohabitation and the retreat from marriage.

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KW - divorce

KW - family formation

KW - marriage

KW - separation

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SN - 1741-3737

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JO - Journal of Marriage and Family

JF - Journal of Marriage and Family

IS - 1

ER -

Family Forerunners? Parental Separation and Partnership Formation in 16 Countries

Abstract

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Keywords

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