Z nesezdaného soužití do manželství: záleží na vzdělanostní homogamii?

This article examines the association between cohabiting partners’ educational homogamy and transition to marriage. This paper enriches previous studies with its comparative dimension to find out if and how the association differs in countries with different meanings of cohabitation – in Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic. It also examines if and how the association between the transition to marriage and educational homogamy is changing over time. Using data from the first wave of the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), the analysis shows that the transition to marriage depends on partners’ relative education only in countries where cohabitation and marriage are two very different institutions – Poland and the Czech Republic. Educational hypergamy and hypogamy are not associated with the transition in the same way. In cohabitations where the man is more educated, the probability of marriage is half that compared to homogamous cohabitations, whereas cohabitations with a more educated woman are not significantly different from homogamous cohabitations. Over time, the association between relative education and the transition to marriage has not changed.

Studentski stavovi o braku, kohabitaciji i tranziciji u brak

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS MARRIAGE, COHABITATION AND TRANSITION TO MARRIAGE The paper discusses the understanding of marriage and forms of partnerships in the late modern society, based on data from a survey of students’ attitudes at the University of Rijeka (N = 635). The results reveal ambivalent attitudes about traditional marriage among respondents. Although students reject the idea that every marriage, even a bad one, is superior to other forms of partnerships, the vast majority of them plan to get married in the future. Cohabitation is acceptable to most students and they intend to practise it, but only as a temporary stage before marriage. Attitudes toward traditional marriage and the acceptability of cohabitation were found to be more strongly correlated with the respondents’ overall assessment of how important is it for them to marry than with the assessment of their own future behavior in transition to marriage and parenthood. Religious self-identification is a variable that influences both respondents’ attitudes about traditional marriage and cohabitation and their perception of their own transition to marriage more strongly than other sociodemographic variables. Nevertheless, it has been shown that its effect is greater on the aforementioned attitudes of students than on their perception of their own transition to marriage in the future. Key words: attitudes, traditional marriage, cohabitation, transition to marriage

“Not Just Me Anymore.” A Qualitative Study of Transitioning to Marriage after Cohabitation

Premarital cohabitation could influence the transition to marriage by cultivating the belief that getting married will have little effect on a relationship that has already taken root through cohabitation. Yet uncertainty about a relationship could influence cohabiting couples to hold back some investment in their relationship until marriage. This qualitative study of 36 individuals (18 newlywed couples) investigated the transition from cohabitation to marriage by focusing on perceived differences between premarital cohabitation and marriage while adjusting to being married. Newlyweds typically identified changes and they were often unexpected. Several themes emerged pertaining to the deepening and solidifying of the relationship and changes in approaching conflict. Marital permanence was an overarching metatheme that was reflected throughout the findings. Results are discussed in the context of relationship certainty, investment, and delayed dedication. Implications for the potential of cohabitation to mirror marriage are discussed.

What role does timing play in migrants’ transition to marriage? A comparison between endogamous and exogamous marriages

Couple formation and migration are the result of interrelated decision-making processes in the life cycle. Using data from the “Social Condition and Integration of Foreign Citizens (SCIF)” survey, conducted in Italy in 2011-2012 by Istat, we aim to investigate how the timing of migration events affects the type and timing of marriages in the destination country. Time-related models investigate the competing-risk transitions to endogamous and exogamous marriages with Italian spouses. Obtained results provide evidence of the complexity of today’s migrations, and they indicate the coexistence of various patterns among first-generation migrants in Italy, characterised by a plurality of origins, with different projects and behavioural models. The “interrelation of events” hypothesis explains the transitions to both endogamous and exogamous marriages among women, while men usually spend more time finding a partner and achieving economic stability. Despite this general picture, our analysis shows different and original pathways shaping transitions to marriage by reason of migration and considering a number of demographic and migratory characteristics.

Marriage and reductions in men's alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use

BackgroundPsychoactive substance use is lower among married compared to divorced or unmarried men; yet, the nature of this effect remains unclear because becoming and staying married is potentially confounded with substance-related background familial and individual factors, like parental divorce and personality. The authors investigated the associations between marital status and substance use; how substance use changed across the transition to marriage; and whether marriage effects were likely to be causal.MethodThe sample included 1790 adults from male–male twin pairs from a population-based registry. Measures of marital status and alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use came from Life History Calendars. Data were analyzed using regression, co-twin comparison, and within-person models. The latter models are tools for quasi-causal inference that control for familial and individual-level confounders.ResultsMarried men used less alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis than men who were divorced/separated or single. In analyses of substance use across the transition to marriage, men reduced their alcohol and cannabis use both before and after marriage, but their tobacco use only after marriage. These effects were largely robust in co-twin and within-person analyses.ConclusionsMarriage was associated with substantial reductions in substance use compared to being divorced/separated or single, and these reductions began prior to marriage. The co-twin comparison and within-person models ruled out the alternative explanation that marriage effects were due to confounding background familial and individual factors. These results provide strong evidence that the social role expectations associated with marriage reduce psychoactive substance use.