Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Eickmeyer_Final_Thesis_6.9.16.pdf (910.18 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Even More 'Premarital Divorce': Cohabitation and Multiple Union Dissolutions during Young Adulthood

Eickmeyer, Kasey J
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1467986209

Abstract Details

2016, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Sociology/Applied Demography.
The union formation and dissolution patterns of young adult women have changed dramatically over the last two and a half decades. Women are marrying later and divorce rates are on the decline, yet cohabitation is more common and increasingly unstable (Anderson and Payne, 2014; Manning, 2013; Manning, Brown, and Payne, 2014; Brown, Lin, and Payne, 2014; Clarke, 1995; Guzzo 2014). These trends mean that we must consider experiences of union dissolution during young adulthood in terms of cohabitation as well as marriage. Using the National Survey of Family Growth Cycle 5 (1995), Cycle 6 (2002), and continuous surveys 2006-2013, I examine the influence of three birth cohorts (Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers) and union experience on women’s likelihood and frequency of union dissolution during young adulthood (ages 18-26) using a collective measure of both marital and non-marital experiences. It appears that relationships have become far more unstable for Millennials than they were for Baby Boomers or Generation X. The number of union dissolutions experienced during young adulthood has increased over time, with Millennials experiencing a higher likelihood of ever dissolving a union during young adulthood compared to earlier generations of women and a higher level of instability compared to Generation X. Cohabitation appears to play a role in driving these patterns of instability. This research illustrates that not only are Millennial women facing higher odds of multiple co-residential dissolutions – marital or non-marital—during young adulthood, but that cohabitation experience contributes to this instability, lending to potentially more `demographic density’ (Rindfuss, 1991) during young adulthood than ever before.
Wendy Manning, Dr. (Advisor)
Karen Guzzo, Dr. (Committee Member)
Kara Joyner, Dr. (Committee Member)
48 p.
Demography; Sociology
cohabitation; young adulthood; union dissolution

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Eickmeyer, K. J. (2016). Even More 'Premarital Divorce': Cohabitation and Multiple Union Dissolutions during Young Adulthood [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1467986209

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Eickmeyer, Kasey. Even More 'Premarital Divorce': Cohabitation and Multiple Union Dissolutions during Young Adulthood. 2016. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1467986209.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Eickmeyer, Kasey. "Even More 'Premarital Divorce': Cohabitation and Multiple Union Dissolutions during Young Adulthood." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1467986209

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1467986209
627
© 2016, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Even More 'Premarital Divorce': Cohabitation and Multiple Union Dissolutions during Young Adulthood by Kasey J Eickmeyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.