Why Cohabit? Analyses of the Circumstances Surrounding Union Formation

Karen B. Guzzo, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

While there is extensive research detailing who cohabits and the outcomes of cohabiting unions, we still know little about why people cohabit to begin with. This paper tests whether the start of a union is associated with the experience of other life course events, such as having a child, graduating from college, or getting a new job. For many persons, cohabitation arises out of convenience, while for others it may arise out of deepening emotional commitment. I argue that examining the circumstances surrounding the start of union provide clues to how cohabitation functions at the individual level and that the role cohabitation plays is dependent on individual life course stage and sociodemographic characteristics. Analyses are conducted using waves 1 & 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households, using discrete-time hazard models. It is expected that the occurrence of a cohabitation is associated with the experience of other events.