Generation Gap in Values, Behaviors: As Marriage and Parenthood Drift Apart, Public Is Concerned About Social Impact
This national survey by the Pew Research Centre assesses American's attitudes and behaviours in regards to childbearing and family life.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Pew Research Center • July 1, 2007

Canadian Attitudes on the Family
This survey asked a broad range of questions dealing with all aspects of the attitudes of Canadians toward marital and family satisfaction, work/family balance, taxation, family size, the impacts of cohabitation, divorce, same-sex marriage, parenting and the impact of children on marital satisfaction, and the significance of religion.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Focus on the Family (Canada) • June 01, 2002

The Facts Behind Cohabitation
This fact-sheet document highlights research about the differences between cohabitation and marriage.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Civitas: the Institute for the Study of Civil Society • c.2001

Cohabitation and Marriage: How are they related?
This paper reports on marriage and cohabitation trends in Canada and provides a comparative analysis of these family structures.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• The Vanier Institute of the Family • September 2005

Relationship Quality Dynamics of Cohabiting Unions
This paper examines the stability, duration and quality of cohabiting relationships and it evaluates whether the presence of children or the experience of a prior union affect the duration of such relationships.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Center for Family and Demographic Research • 2000

First Comes Cohabitation and Then Comes Marriage?
This paper examines cohabitors' expectations of marriage and demonstrates that, for many people, cohabitation is seen as an alternative to marriage, rather than as a precursor to marriage.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Center for Family and Demographic Research • March 2000

Does Marriage Improve a Cohabiting Relationship?
This paper explores the impact of marriage on cohabiting relationships and finds that, overall, marriage is beneficial for cohabiting couples.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Center for Family and Demographic Research • 2001

“Everything’s There Except Money”: How Economic Factors Shape the Decision to Marry Among Cohabiting Couples
This paper examines cohabitors' perception of the relationship between financial stability and marriage.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Center for Family and Demographic Research • 2004

The Significance of Nonmarital Cohabitation: Marital Status and Mental Health Benefits among Middle-Aged and Older Adults
This paper examines the psychological well-being of older adults who are either married or cohabiting.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Center for Family and Demographic Research • November 19-22, 2003

Marital Disruption in the Czech Republic: The Role of Personal Characteristics, Individuality, and Premarital Cohabitation
This paper explores possible predictors of divorce in the Czech Republic, a country with very high rates of marital dissolution.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research • October 2002

Cohabitation and Children’s Family Instability
This paper looks at the number of family transitions experienced by children in cohabiting households in order to determine the level of instability they experience.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Population Research Center • 2002

Living Arrangements of Single Mother Families: Variations, Transitions, and Child Development Outcomes
This study finds that children living with single or cohabiting mothers have poorer developmental outcomes than children living with married parents or with a single mother who lives with her parents.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Population Research Center • 2001

Why Wed? Young Adults Talk About Sex, Love, and First Unions
This report looks at the results of a focus group study on attitudes towards marriage, cohabitation, and the related issues of gender roles, individual autonomy, premarital sex, and financial stabilty.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey • 1999

The Implications of Parents' Conjugal Histories For Children
This paper examines the consequences of increasing levels of cohabitation, as opposed to marriage, as the basis for starting a family.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• ISUMA • Autumn 2000

Cohabitation: A Snapshot
This paper examines patterns of cohabitation in the United States, the characteristics of cohabiters, the quality and length of their relationships, and the relationship between cohabitation, marriage, and divorce.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Center for Law and Social Policy • May 1998

Cohabitation: Sharpening a Fuzzy Concept
This paper discusses the reliability of measures of cohabitation, the prevalence of part time cohabitation, and the extent to which characteristics commonly associated with cohabitation are affected by the measurement of part-time cohabiting arrangements.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Center for Research on Child Wellbeing • May 2005

Cohabiting Unions in France and West Germany: Transitions to Birth and First Marriage
This paper examines the contribution of cohabitation to differences in nonmarital childbearing in France and West Germany.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research • December 17, 2002

To Tie the Knot or Not: Cohabitation, Marriage and Individuals' Attitudes to Risk
This paper proposes a theoretical model of the relationship between cohabitation and marriage.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research • May 23, 2002

The Relative Stability of Cohabiting and Marital Unions for Children
This paper demonstrates that, regardless of ethnicity, children in cohabiting unions experience greater instability than children born into married families.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Center for Family and Demographic Research • January 01, 2002

Divorce: Facts, Figures, and Consequences
This report answers common questions about divorce and discusses the impact of divorce on children and adults.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• The Vanier Institute of the Family • 2002

Sex Without Strings, Relationships without Rings: Today's Young Singles Talk About Mating and Dating
This study found that, although most young people hope and expect to enter into a lasting marriage, in reality their dating culture does not lay the foundations for this.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• The National Marriage Project • 2000

Increased Cohabitation Changing Children's Family Settings
This brief paper discusses trends in cohabitation and the impact that increasing rates of cohabitation has on the family structure and living arrangements of children.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development • September 01, 2002

Delayed Life Transitions: Trends and Implications
This paper outlines the trend of delayed life transitions such as leaving home, first marriage and first childbirth.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Vanier Institute of the Family • May 01, 2004

Marriage Following the Birth of a Child Among Cohabiting and Visiting Parents
This paper examines factors that affect the likelihood that unmarried parents will marry after the birth of their child.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Center for Research on Child Wellbeing • March 01, 2004

Why Men Won't Commit: Exploring Young Men's Attitudes About Sex, Dating, and Marriage
This study of young, unmarried men found that many are reluctant to marry due to the increasing acceptability of cohabitation which has been an important contributor to this increasing trend.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• The National Marriage Project • 2002

Perception Correction for Congress: New Study Indicates Poor Parents Want to Marry
In response to the "Fragile Families" Survey, which indicated that policies encouraging marriage were well-received among poor and unwed parents, this paper recommends that Members of Congress provide funding through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Act in order to promote marriage.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• The Heritage Foundation Backgrounder • October 01, 2001

The State of Our Unions: The Social Health of Marriage in America
This paper addresses the state of marriage in America and how it has been affected by changing attitudes towards divorce, cohabitation, gender differences, financial stability, childbearing, and sex.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey • June 01, 2002

Restoring a Culture of Marriage: Good News for Policymakers From the Fragile Families Survey
This article discusses the findings of the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Survey and emphasizes the importance of promoting marriage among unmarried parents.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• The Heritage Foundation • June 01, 2002

The Verdict on Cohabitation vs. Marriage
This article looks at the benefits of marriage over cohabitation.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Brigham Young University • 2001

It’s All in the Past? Exploring the Repercussions of Parents’ Early Conjugal and Parental Histories on the Family Life Course of Their Children
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey on Children and Youth (NLSCY), this paper examines the impact the parents’ conjugal and parental behaviour (prior to the union in which the target child was born) has upon the child’s outcomes
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Human Resources Development Canada • January 01, 2002

Premarital Cohabitation and Marital Stability
This paper investigates the stability of cohabiting versus married relationships, and finds that premarital cohabitation increases marital instability as well as the risk of separation and divorce.
• Category: Family Transitions > Premarital Cohabitation
• Australian Institute of Family Studies • March 13, 2003