Stepping Stones and Steady States: Cohabitation and Marriage among Single Mothers

• In Event: 054 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 17. Single Parent and Cohabiting Families

Abstract

Patterns of family formation have undergone a number of changes in the past few decades. Decreases in marriage alongside sharp increases in non-marital cohabitation have led researchers to puzzle over the role of cohabitation in the U.S. family system as well as racial and education differences in its role. This study contributes to this line of inquiry by focusing on the union formation process of single mothers – women who have been central in discussions about declining marriage rates and efforts to promote marriage. Drawing on data from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth, this study employs event history analysis to examine the relationship trajectories of single mothers from different racial and educational groups. The study further considers how race and education interact to produce variation in single motherhood durations. Results show that a majority of single mothers who form unions form cohabiting unions, but transitions to cohabitation, like marriage, are less common for black women than for white women. When black single mothers do cohabit, their chances of marriage are relatively low. Consistent with previous research, these findings suggest that cohabitation is less a stepping-stone toward marriage for black single mothers than it is for whites. However, cohabitation is not a clear alternative to marriage for black single mothers either; it is more difficult for blacks to attain, and the chances of returning to single motherhood are high.

Author

• Angela Bruns, University of Washington