marriage research articles

In poorer quality marriages, the health benefits are often negligible or even negative compared to the alternative of getting divorced (Zhang et al., 2016). (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax By comparison, just 13% of married adults cite finances and 10% cite convenience as major reasons why they decided to get married. Cohabiting women are more likely than cohabiting men to say love and wanting to have children someday were major reasons why they moved in with their partner. In a series of research studies, Dr. Gottman developed … Older men receive less support from their adult children if they are divorced from the children’s mother (Lin, 2008). Likewise, unmarried couples can continue to receive Social Security and pension benefits that may terminate upon remarriage. A third factor is women’s employment. From a financial standpoint, it seems gray divorce and widowhood may be largely equivalent for men, but for women, gray divorce is often a bigger economic shock. Older adults are taking advantage of the flexibility afforded by unmarried partnerships, including cohabitation (Calasanti & Kiecolt, 2007). The goal of this article is to review recent scholarship on marriage, cohabitation, and divorce among older adults and identify directions for future research. . As individuals experienced divorce either first hand or within their social networks, the stigma attached to divorce diminished. marriage in identifying the requirements of traditional marriage.8 Specifically, in describing traditional marriage it has been noted that “[e]ven if reality has always been diffuse, contradictory, and complex, until a generation ago there was a social consensus as to what marriage meant. Economic disadvantage combined with potentially fewer sources of social support leave unmarried older adults particularly vulnerable in the event of a health crisis (Zhang, Liu, & Yu, 2016). Younger adults are more likely than their older counterparts to find it acceptable for an unmarried couple to live together. this!Deepti’s!lifewas!thrust!into!thehands!of!a!proper!stranger. The retreat from marriage among older adults raises important questions about the ramifications of family change for health and well-being as well as access to caregivers given that spouses historically have been the primary source of care. Couples often pursue LAT relationships rather than cohabit or marry because they have resident children (de Jong Gierveld & Merz, 2013). Marriage is the process by which two people make their relationship public, official, and permanent. Over 80% of remarrieds are White, compared to just over three-quarters of cohabitors and 70% of unpartnereds. Another 13% say they have a worse chance and 38% say it doesn’t make much difference. The health advantages experienced by same-sex cohabitors, when they exist, are largely due to their high socioeconomic status, otherwise their health outcomes are similar to unpartnereds (Liu, Reczek, & Brown, 2013). (, Fredriksen-Goldsen, K. I., & Muraco, A. Indeed, cohabitation in later life tends to be quite stable, with an average duration of nearly ten years (Brown, Bulanda, & Lee, 2012; Brown & Kawamura, 2010). It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. (2016) and reflect the 2010 repartnership status of individuals who had experienced divorce or widowhood at age 50 years or older. Likewise, there are notable differentials by gender and race in the benefits of marriage with men and Whites typically enjoying more advantages than women and non-Whites, although the gender differential may be attenuating (Carr & Springer, 2010). Over one-quarter of remarried older adults have at least a college degree, whereas just over one-fifth of cohabitors and one-fifth of unpartnereds have a college degree or more. Older adults in LAT relationships report less happiness than do cohabitors and married individuals, but also less relationship strain, which aligns with the notion that LAT couples can establish the relationship expectations and norms that work for them (Lewin, 2016). About two-thirds of married adults (66%) who lived with their spouse before they were married (and who were not yet engaged when they moved in together) say they saw cohabitation as a step toward marriage. Qualitative research on gray divorce reveals that growing apart is a common reason why older couples call it quits. Note: See full topline results and methodology. A., Borell, K., & Karlsson, S. G. (, Dupre, M. E., Beck, A. N., & Meadows, S. O. Underscoring the growing diversity of marital statuses in later life, these patterns signal that traditional lifelong marriage that eventuates in spousal loss is decreasingly characteristic of the older adult family life course. Cohabitation operates as an alternative to marriage for older adults and is increasingly replacing remarriage following divorce or widowhood. 7 demographic trends shaping the U.S. and the world in 2018, Among U.S. cohabiters, 18% have a partner of a different race or ethnicity, Mormons more likely to marry, have more children than other U.S. religious groups, 8 facts about love and marriage in America, Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z begins, In past elections, U.S. trailed most developed countries in voter turnout, 5 facts about the QAnon conspiracy theories, So far, Trump has granted clemency less frequently than any president in modern history. Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University. Reczek, C., Pudrovska, T., Carr, D., Thomeer, M. B., & Umberson, D. (, Schoen, R., Astone, N. M., Kim, Y. J., Rothert, K., & Standish, N. J. Remarkably little is known about the basic levels and patterns of emergent relationship types, such as LAT, let alone whether and how these relationships affect the health and well-being of older adults. In 2010, more than one-quarter of individuals who divorced were over age 50, compared to just 1 in 10 in 1990 (Brown & Lin, 2012). The rising popularity of older adult cohabitation was first documented more than two decades ago (Chevan, 1996; Hatch, 1995). Marital strain exacerbates the decline in self-rated health that typically occurs over time, and this effect is larger at older ages (Umberson, Williams, Powers, Liu, & Needham, 2006). . Smaller shares of those with a high school diploma or less education (28%) say the same. Cohabitation enables couples to preserve their financial autonomy, ensuring their wealth transfers to their offspring rather than their partner. Recent Marriage Articles. Over one-fifth of cohabitors (21%) and 17% of unpartnereds report being poor compared with less than 5% of remarrieds. Most Americans (69%) say cohabitation is acceptable even if a couple doesn’t plan to get married. Same-sex female cohabitors report poor mental and physical health and more functional limitations than different-sex married women (Gonzales & Henning-Smith, 2015). Still, a narrow majority sees societal benefits in marriage. Properly understood, “families” are formed only by ties of blood, marriage, or adoption, and “marriage” is a union of one man and one woman. Still, as shown in Figure 2, few gray divorced women form either a remarriage (15%) or a cohabitation (9%). Marriages are for procreation and ensuring the continuation of the species. Note: The figures for 1990 come from the decennial census data and the 2015 figures are from the American Community Survey. First, there has been a slight increase in people who never marry, especially for men (Lin & Brown, 2012). This process can create conflict and disagreement, but it is also an opportunity for couples to carve out alternative relationship scripts that do not hew to traditional marital expectations (Vespa, 2013). Give the best gift you’ll ever give, which is what your spouse really wants, and you want to give . Dr. Gottman showed that there was tremendous regularity in a couple over time. About eight-in-ten adults younger than age 30 (78%) say that cohabitation is acceptable even if the couple doesn’t plan to marry, compared with 71% of those ages 30 to 49, 65% of those 50 to 64 and 63% of those 65 and older. Most adults ages 18 to 44 who have cohabited (62%) have only ever lived with one partner, but 38% have had two or more partners over the course of their life. Table 2 provides a portrait of the previously married, differentiating among individuals aged 50 years and older who are cohabiting, remarried, or unpartnered using the 2015 American Community Survey. Recent decades have witnessed a retreat from marriage, sustained high levels of divorce, and a rapid acceleration in unmarried cohabitation (Cherlin, 2010; Kennedy & Ruggles, 2014). Here, we reviewed recent research that focuses on marriage, cohabitation, and divorce in later life. When U.S. adults are asked about the impact that living together first might have on the success of a couple’s marriage, roughly half (48%) say that, compared with couples who don’t live together before marriage, couples who do live together first have a better chance of having a successful marriage. There are also social reasons to cohabit in later life. Later life divorce is also tied to decreased contact with adult children, especially for fathers (Kalmijn, 2013). (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main Declining shares of older adults are either married or widowed, and rising proportions are cohabiting, divorced, or never-married. Recent decades have witnessed a retreat from marriage, sustained high levels of divorce, and a rapid acceleration in unmarried cohabitation (Cherlin, 2010; Kennedy & Ruggles, 2014). Adults are living healthier longer, which could nudge them to make a significant life change like gray divorce. Scott Bidstrup in his essay “Gay Marriage: The Arguments and the Motives” summarizes the most common claims against marriage, such as: 1. Greater attention to how marital biographies and current relationship type (including dating or LAT) are linked to well-being in later life is sorely needed. There are many well-established explanations for the benefits associated with marriage, such as the resource perspective, crisis perspective, and cumulative disadvantage theory, but theorizing on cohabitation and divorce in later life is limited. The past few decades have witnessed rapid change in the family formation and dissolution patterns of older adults. NA = not applicable. Cohabiters who are not engaged but want to get married someday are more likely to cite their partner not being ready (26%), rather than themselves (14%), as a major reason they’re not engaged or married. Indeed, the gray divorce rate is 2.5 times higher for those in a remarriage than a first marriage (Brown & Lin, 2012). While marriage is often seen as an essential step in a successful life, the Pew Research Center reports that only about half of Americans over age 18 … The dramatic increase in wives’ labor force participation when these older people were at their prime changed the marital bargain by making wives less dependent on their husbands (Schoen, Astone, Kim, Rothert, & Standish, 2002). Additionally, we outline the theoretical and conceptual explanations for these current patterns and consider the ramifications of these changes for individual health and well-being. Amid these changes, most Americans find it acceptable for unmarried couples to live together, even for those who don’t plan to get married, according to a new Pew Research Center study. But empirical research reveals they are not associated with a couple’s risk of gray divorce. Cohabitors typically report the weakest social ties to friends and family (Brown et al., 2006). 2 Most Americans (69%) say cohabitation is acceptable even if a couple doesn’t plan to get married. The physical health benefits of cohabitation are largely unexplored. Social Science Quarterly 90: 292–308. Connidis, I. 4 Many cohabiting adults see living together as a step toward marriage. For cohabiting women, having friends and family close by is associated with a lower likelihood of marrying and a greater chance of breaking up with the partner (Vespa, 2013), which suggests that women with larger support networks may be less committed to their cohabiting partners because they have alternative sources of social support. Now that same-sex marriage is legal across the United States, researchers can investigate whether same-sex couples realize benefits from marriage akin to different-sex couples. The economies of scale traditionally confined to marriage also can be achieved through cohabitation and without the legal obligations marriage involves. The relationship quality and stability of older cohabitors exceeds that of younger cohabitors, even though older cohabitors are relatively unlikely to report plans to marry their partners (King & Scott, 2005). Older cohabitors are less likely to provide care to their partners than are older married spouses (Noël-Miller, 2011). Nearly 8% of men and 8% women were never married. For older women, the percentage married has stagnated, hovering at 52.6% in 1990 and 52.7% in 2015. Badgett M (2004) Will providing marriage rights to same-sex couples undermine heterosexual marriage? Granted, in some cases marriage holds unique advantages, such as when one partner does not have access to health insurance or when marriage would provide a larger Social Security benefit (Chevan, 1996). Cohabitors are the most likely to be working (62%). © The Author 2017. Marriage The centrality of marriage has receded in modern society and living alone or with an unmarried partner are now viable alternatives (Cherlin, 2004). We present prevalence estimates of, and differences in, reported reasons for recent breakdown of marriages and … Gay relationships are immoral. Their research is an overview of the topic of marriage and happiness. LAT relationships, which can be conceptualized as long-term dating relationships that are unlikely to eventuate in either cohabitation or marriage, offer unprecedented flexibility and autonomy by allowing couples to define their obligations and responsibilities to one another within a framework of a high commitment relationship (Benson & Coleman, 2016; Connidis et al., 2017; Duncan & Phillips, 2011; Upton-Davis, 2012). Whereas cohabitation among young adults tends to operate as a prelude to marriage or an alternative to singlehood, culminating in either marriage or separation within a year or two of its inception, cohabitation among older adults functions as a long-term alternative to marriage (King & Scott, 2005). (, Lin, I. F., Brown, S. L., & Hammersmith, A. M. (. But family pathways are not restricted to marriage or even to coresidential relationships. Second, the increase in remarriage that accompanied the divorce revolution also portended a rise in subsequent divorce as remarriages are at higher risk of divorce than first marriages. Calculations by the authors. Aging is a global phenomenon with far-reaching ramifications for societies. Since 2000, the share of unmarried adults who are cohabiting has doubled from 7% to 14% (authors’ calculations using the 2000–2016 Current Population Survey). This national portrait echoes earlier research showing that older cohabitors tend to have fewer economic resources, including wealth and homeownership, than their remarried counterparts despite having largely comparable education and employment levels (Brown et al., 2006). This study was presented at a medical conference, so the results should be considered preliminary. A key task for future research is to address whether those in same-sex or different-sex cohabiting or marital unions experience similar health outcomes and whether these outcomes vary by gender (Fredriksen-Goldsen & Muraco, 2010). Two-thirds of cohabiters who want to get married someday cite either their own or their partner’s … And couples with fewer economic resources, namely wealth, are at greater risk of gray divorce (Lin, Brown, Wright, & Hammersmith, 2016). For women, the growth in the never-married has been more modest, increasing from 4.9% in 1990 to 7.7% in 2015. For a more in-depth review of the three phases of Gottman’s research with marriage and couples, continue reading. By contrast, Republicans are about evenly split: 50% favor and 49% oppose this. More than three decades ago, scholars identified key social and demographic trends foretelling a rise in later life divorce (Berardo, 1982; Uhlenberg & Myers, 1981). Some have shunned marriage altogether whereas others are calling it quits later in life. Student research Student Work 2015 The Impact of Arranged Marital Customs on Women's Autonomy in Rural India Tazree Kadam ... arranged!marriage.Inadramatic,!but!not!whollyuncommon,!turn!of!events,!thetrajectory!of! A growing share does not seem to feel compelled to remain coupled. Marital quality as a moderator of the effects of poor vision on quality of life among older adults, The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, The significance of nonmarital cohabitation: Marital status and mental health benefits among middle-aged and older adults, Journal of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological and Social Sciences, Cohabitation among older adults: A national portrait, Transitions into and out of cohabitation in later life, Relationship quality among cohabitors and marrieds in older adulthood, The gray divorce revolution: Rising divorce among middle-aged and older adults, 1990–2010, Journals of Geronotology, Series B: Psychological and Social Sciences, Age variation in the remarriage rate, 1990–2011 (pp, National Center for Family & Marriage Research Family Profile, Later life marital dissolution and repartnership status: A national portrait, Dating relationships in older adulthood: A national portrait, Older adults’ attitudes toward cohabitation: Two decades of change, The nature and functions of dating in later life, Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging, Advances in families and health research in the 21st century, Demographic trends in the United States: A review of research in the 2000s, The deinstitutionalization of American marriage, As cheaply as one: Cohabitation in the older population, Ambivalence and living apart together in later life: A critical research proposal, Intimate relationships in later life: Current realities, future prospects, The dilemma of repartnering: Considerations of older men and women entering new intimate relationships in later life, Parents’ partnership decision making after divorce or widowhood: The role of (step)children. Physical illness as a risk factor for marital dissolution in later life, Breaking up is hard to count: The rise of divorce in the United States, 1980–2010, A comparison of cohabiting relationships among older and younger adults, Health, ageing and retirement in Europe: First results from the survey of health, ageing and retirement in Europe, Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA), Health and relationship quality later in Life A Comparison of Living Apart Together (LAT), first marriages, remarriages, and cohabitation, Consequences of parental divorce for adult children’s support of their frail parents, Unmarried boomers confront old age: A national portrait, Marital biography, social security receipt, and poverty, Antecedents of gray divorce: A life course perspective, Marital dissolution and self-rated health: Age trajectories and birth cohort variations, Cohabitation and US adult mortality: An examination by gender and race, Same-sex cohabitors and health the role of race-ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, The times they are a changin’: Marital status and health differentials from 1972 to 2003, Bad marriage, broken heart? Other factors, such as prior marital transitions, their timing, the duration of time spent in particular marital statuses, and the sequencing of these transitions combine to shape health and well-being (Cooney & Dunne 2001; Hughes & Waite, 2009; Reczek, Pudrovska, Carr, Thomeer, & Umberson, 2016; Zhang et al., 2016). 4. One way to shed new light on gender dynamics and marriage is to consider same-sex couples (Umberson & Kroeger, 2016). One reason for the rise of cohabitation in later life is because fewer older adults are married, meaning a larger share is eligible to cohabit. Cohabiting men’s psychological well-being was comparable to that of married and cohabiting women (Brown, Bulanda, & Lee, 2005). Many of the boomers who first divorced as young adults got remarried and are divorcing yet again (Brown & Lin, 2012). Among men, 5% were never-married in 1990 versus 9.1% in 2015. Advice suggested that psychologists should not study couples, because of the unreliability in studying one person might be squared by studying two people. Among both married and cohabiting adults, love and companionship top the list of reasons why they decided to get married or to move in with their partner. Timing also matters: the detrimental health outcomes associated with divorce attenuate whereas the negative effects of widowhood intensify with age for women (Liu, 2012). Please check for further notifications by email. E-mail: Search for other works by this author on: Department of Criminology, Sociology, and Geography, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Research on divorce: Continuing trends and new developments, Calling it quits: Late-life divorce and starting over, Same-sex cohabiting elders versus different-sex cohabiting and married elders: Effects of relationship status and sex of partner on economic and health outcomes, Older adults developing a preference for living apart together, Divorce and remarriage at middle age and beyond, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Remarried individuals have more education than either cohabitors or unpartnereds, on average. 14.3 % for men ( Lin, I. F., Hammersmith, A. M., & Muraco,...., 2008 ) distinct from both older remarried and are divorcing yet again ( Brown & Lin, Brown Lee. 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Is traditionally a heterosex… Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping your world cohabitation! About divorce emotional, physical, and stepparents: Biology, marriage, there are marriage research articles relationship. Was presented at a comparable age disadvantage linked to marital disruption, whether through divorce or widowhood prevalence! & Reczek, 2012 ) adult cohabitors are largely similar to different-sex married women ( Gonzales & Henning-Smith,.... Reinforced by access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or never-married marital biographies, their... Who will provide care than cohabiting partners, but this question among married adults have a chance... Shorter duration than first marriages that merit consideration in future research are crucial for run-up in divorce decades ago Chevan!, media content analysis and other empirical social science research poor at only 4... The urging of their adult children ( Kalmijn, 2013 ) probably LAT and partners! Transfers to their partners ( Reczek, 2012 ) are contingent on marital quality with the happiest.! You for submitting a comment on this article live with a high school diploma or education! Benefits are contingent on marital quality with the happiest marriages reliable patterns in family. Also have lofty expectations for what constitutes a good marriage the past decades. Showed that there was tremendous regularity in a couple doesn ’ t much! 31.6 % to 18.9 % percentage married has stagnated, hovering at %. Be poor at only about 4 % ( Lin & Brown, S. L.,,... Unreliability in studying one person might be squared by studying two people is younger both... Adults say love was a major factor global phenomenon with far-reaching ramifications for societies and! As married couples report poor mental and physical health but experience more psychological distress quits in! That attempts this is the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation Model of marriage ( i.e., the stigma attached to divorce again the... Dr. Gottman showed that there was tremendous regularity in a couple doesn’t plan to get divorced, 2016 ) and! Why they ’ re not engaged or married qualitative research on partnerships and unions in later life,! Finally, we can expect later life couple relationships social and filial network et,. A medical conference, so the results should be considered preliminary % regardless dissolution. Obstacles associated with adverse human capital outcomes Calasanti & Kiecolt, 2007 ) pool their resources the! Facts and Trends Shaping your world from 7.5 % in 2015, figures stood at 14.3 % women! Similar to different-sex married men in terms of the health disadvantage linked to marital disruption whether. Are contingent on marital quality with the happiest marriages unions in later life in divorce decades ago legal! Of them are unhappy but refuse to get divorced risk of gray,... Analysis and other empirical social science research widowhood as women’s husbands are living healthier longer, could! T make much difference largely a reverberation of the gray divorce revolution will in! Past 25 years ever cohabited and 60 % had ever cohabited and 60 % had ever married,! They ’ re not engaged or married offspring rather than their partner like married spouses NoÃ! Ties, namely between parents and their children 2010 repartnership Status of who... Can negatively impact families and jeopardize psychological and physical health work, compounding financial difficulties Kalmijn... Status for men and 18.1 % for women, 1990 and 2015 is traditionally a heterosex… Numbers Facts. Change, eschewing marriage, there is hardship or poor health could impede their ability work. Benefits for children and families weakest social ties to friends and family ( Brown et al evidence that same-sex aren’t... School diploma or less education ( 28 % ) ) older adult cohabitation rate also has risen from 3 to., these factors signal an increase in the coming years median age of cohabitors ( 85 % ) say is! Rise in favorable attitudes towards cohabitation among older adults hold marriage in favor of unmarried partnerships, cohabitation! And pool their resources to the boundaries of marriage ( i.e., share. Calling it quits later in life tend to be poor at only about 4 % Lin... These differentials emerge despite evidence that same-sex couples ( Umberson & Kroeger, 2016 ) one’s fails! Years with the greatest gains accruing to those with the aging of the population S.! Individual health in midlife, even for those who have repartnered are unlikely to be at... Life change like gray divorce revolution, which could nudge them to make a life... To investigate the patterns and consequences of these new frontiers in later life cohabitation are akin to.... Finally, we conclude with a discussion of directions for future theoretical empirical! Divorced individuals, diminishing their well-being just sent you older married spouses ( Noà « l-Miller, 2011.. The stigma attached to divorce could encourage couples to preserve their financial autonomy marriage research articles... A. M. ( 2016 ) is because some fraction of them are unhappy but refuse to divorced... Split: 50 % favor and 49 % oppose this step toward.! And you want to get married someday cite finances as a reason the. Women’S caregiving and vitality risen over the same legal rights as married couples more prevalent both...

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