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Relationship‐Specific Investments, Family Chaos, and Cohabitation Dissolution Following a Nonmarital Birth
Author(s) -
Kamp Dush Claire M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2011.00672.x
Subject(s) - cohabitation , fragile families and child wellbeing study , demography , fertility , romance , psychology , developmental psychology , demographic economics , sociology , geography , economics , population , archaeology , psychoanalysis
Predictors of two types of cohabitation dissolution, dissolution with a continued romantic relationship and without (i.e., breakup), were examined using data from mothers cohabiting at the time of a nonmarital birth in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( N = 1,624). Life tables indicated 64% of unions dissolved within 5 years; of these, 76% broke up. Black mothers had the highest rates of dissolution. Maximum likelihood discrete‐time event history results revealed that younger mothers were more likely to experience cohabitation dissolution into a breakup. Fewer relationship‐specific investments and more family chaos were also associated with greater risk of cohabitation dissolution into a breakup. Mothers' multipartnered fertility and fewer relationship‐specific investments were associated with greater risk of cohabitation dissolution with a continued romantic relationship. Postdissolution, mothers who maintained a romantic relationship were more likely to reenter a union with their former partner whereas mothers whose union broke up most often remained so.