Is Marriage More Than Cohabitation? Well‐Being Differences in 30 European Countries

Bibliographic Data

ID7857254
AuthorsJudith P M Soons (Onderwijsraad, corresponding author), M Kalmijn (0000-0001-5217-1897, Tilburg University)
Year2009
Volume71
Issue5
Pages1141-1157
Publication date2009-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Marriage and the Family (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-2445 • E-ISSN: 1741-3737
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00660.x
OpenAlexW1995404526
LanguageEN
Citations received122
References cited59

The study aims to assess, first, whether there is a gap in well‐being between unmarried cohabitants and the married, second, if selection factors can explain this so‐called cohabitation gap, and third, if the size of the cohabitation gap differs across countries and how this can be explained. We use pooled data from young adults (18–44) in 3 rounds of the European Social Survey (N ≅ 31, 500). Multilevel regression analyses show that there is a moderate cohabitation gap that can be partly explained with the selection factors material resources and religiosity. Country differences were clear and could partly be explained with the level of institutionalization: In countries where cohabitation is more accepted and more prevalent, the cohabitation gap is smaller

Cohabitation · Demographic economics · Economics · European Social Survey · Institutionalisation · Multilevel model · Political science · Religiosity · Sociology · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Health disparities and outcomes · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology · Social Psychology