Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Teenage Cohabitation, Marriage, and Childbearing

  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cohabitation is an integral part of family research; however, little work examines cohabitation among teenagers or links between cohabitation and teenage childbearing. Drawing on the National Survey of Family Growth (2006–10), we examine family formation activities (i.e., cohabitation, marriage, and childbearing) of 3,945 15–19 year old women from the mid 1990s through 2010. One-third (34 %) of teenagers cohabit, marry, or have a child. Teenage cohabitation and marriage are both positively associated with higher odds of having a child. The vast majority of single pregnant teenagers do not form a union before the birth of their child; only 22 % cohabit and 5 % marry. Yet most single pregnant teenagers eventually cohabit, 59 % did so by the child’s third birthday and about 9 % marry. Cohabitation is an important part of the landscape of the adolescent years, and many teenage mothers described as “single mothers” are actually in cohabiting relationships.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Almgren, G., Yamashiro, G., & Ferguson, M. (2002). Beyond welfare or work: Teen mothers, household subsistence strategies, and child development outcomes. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 29(3), 125–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amato, P., & Kane, J. (2011). Parents’ marital distress, divorce, and remarriage: Links with daughters’ early family formation transitions. Journal of Family Issues, 32(8), 1073–1103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amato, P., Landale, N., Havasevich-Brooks, T., Booth, A., Eggebeen, D., Schoen, R., et al. (2008). Precursors of young women’s family formation pathways. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(5), 1271–1286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J., Willoughby, B., Badger, S., Nelson, L., McNamara, C. B., & Madsen, S. (2007). So close, yet so far away the impact of varying marital horizons on emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Research, 22(3), 219–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavanaugh, S. (2011). Early pubertal timing and union formation behaviors. Social Forces, 89, 1217–1238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandra, A., Martinez, G., Mosher, W., Abma, J., & Jones, J. (2005). Fertility, family planning, and reproductive health of U.S. women: Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital and Health Statistics, 23(25), 1–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Child Trends (2006). Charting parenthood: A statistical portrait of fathers and mothers in America. Retrieved from http://fatherhood.hhs.gov/charting02/index.htm. Accessed 4 Aug 2014.

  • Choi, K., & Seltzer, J. (2009). Race, ethnic, and nativity differences in the demographic significance of cohabitation in women’s lives. CCPR Working Paper Series 2009-04. http://www.papers.ccpr.ucla.edu/papers/PWP-CCPR-2009-004/PWP-CCPR-2009-004.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2014.

  • Cohen, J., & Manning, W. (2010). The relationship context of premarital serial cohabitation. Social Science Research,. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.04.011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellwood, D. T., & Jencks, Christopher. (2004). The uneven spread of single-parent families: What do we know? In K. M. Neckerman (Ed.), Social inequality (pp. 3–78). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eshbaugh, E. M. (2008). Teen mothers: Marriage, cohabitation, and educational achievement. Journal of Family and Social Work, 11(1), 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaughan, M. (2002). The substitution hypothesis: The impact of premarital liaisons and human capital on marital timing. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(2), 1741–3737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, P., Mosher, W., & Chandra, A. (2010). Marriage and cohabitation in the United States: A statistical portrait based on cycle 6 (2002) of the national survey of family growth. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital and Health Statistics, 23(28), 1–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graefe, D. R., & Lichter, D. T. (2002). Marriage among unwed mothers: Whites, blacks and Hispanics compared. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 34(6), 286–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houseknecht, S. K., & Lewis, S. K. (2005). Explaining teen childbearing and cohabitation: Community embeddedness and primary ties. Family Relations, 54(5), 607–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kassbian, D., Whitesell, A., & Huber, E. (2012). Welfare rules databook: State TANF policies as of July 2011. The Urban Institute, Washington D.C. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/welfare_rules_databook_2011.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2014.

  • Kennedy, S., & Bumpass, L. (2008). Cohabitation and children’s living arrangements: New estimates from the United States. Demographic Research, 19(47), 1663–1692.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lichter, D. (2012). Childbearing among cohabiting women: Race, pregnancy, and union transitions. In A. Booth, S. Brown, N. Landale, W. Manning & S. McHale (Eds.),  Early adulthood in a family context (pp. 209–219). New York: Springer.

  • Loomis, L., & Landale, N. S. (1994). Nonmarital cohabitation and childbearing among Black and White American women. Journal of Marriage and Family, 56(4), 949–962.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manlove, J., Stewad-Streng, N., Peterson, K., Scott, M., & Wildsmith, E. (2013). Racial and ethnic differences in the transition to a teenage birth in the United States. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 45(2), 89–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, W. D. (2001). Childbearing in cohabiting unions: Racial and ethnic differences. Family Planning Perspectives, 23(5), 217–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, W. D., Giordano, P. C., & Longmore, M. A. (2008). Adolescent dating relationships: Implications for understanding adult intimate unions. Center for Family and Demographic Research, Working Paper 2008-08. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University. http://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/center-for-family-and-demographic-research/documents/working-papers/2008/CFDR-Working-Papers-2008-08-Adolescent-Dating-Relationships-Implications-for-Understanding-Adult-Intimate-Unions.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2014.

  • Manning, W. D., & Landale, N. S. (1996). Racial and ethnic differences in the role of cohabitation in premarital childbearing. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58(1), 63–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, W. D., & Smock, P. J. (1997). Children’s living arrangements in unmarried-mother families. Journal of Family Issues, 18(5), 526–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, W., Brown, S., & Payne, K. (2014). Two decades of stability and change in age at first union formation. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76(2), 247–260.

  • Martin J. A., Hamilton B. E., Ventura S. J., Osterman, M. J. K., & Mathews T. J. (2013). Births: Final data for 2011. National vital statistics reports, 62(1). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_01.pdf.

  • Martinez, G. M., Daniels, K., & Chandra, A. (2012). Fertility of men and women aged 15-44 years in the United States: National Survey of Family Growth, 2006-2010. National health statistics reports, 51. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Table 12. Available at:http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr051.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2014.

  • McLanahan, S. (2004). Diverging destinies: How children are faring under the second demographic transition. Demography, 41(4), 607–627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meier, A., & Allen, G. (2008). Intimate relationship development during the transition to adulthood: Differences by social class. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 119, 25–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mincieli, L., Manlove, J., McGarrett, M., Moore, K., & Ryan, S. (2007). The Relationship context of births outside of marriage: The rise of cohabitation. Washington, DC: Child Trends. http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Child_Trends-2007_05_14_RB_OutsideBirths.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2014.

  • Musick, K. (2002). Planned and unplanned childbearing among unmarried women. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(4), 915–929.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Musick, K. (2008). Cohabitation, nonmarital childbearing, and the marriage process. Demographic Research, 16(9), 249–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musick, K., & Meier, A. (2010). Are both parents always better than one? Parental conflict and young adult well-being. Social Science Research, 39, 814–830.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osborne, C., Manning, W., & Smock, P. (2007). Married and cohabiting parents’ relationship stability: A focus on race and ethnicity. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(5), 1345–1366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, L., & Thornton, A. (2007). Religious identity and family ideologies in the transition to adulthood. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69, 1227–1243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian, Z. (1998). Changes in assortative mating: The impact of age and education, 1970–1990. Demography, 35(3), 279–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raley, K. (2001). Increasing fertility in cohabiting unions: Evidence for the second demographic transition in the United States. Demography, 38(1), 59–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raley, R. K., Crissey, S. R., & Muller, C. (2007). Of sex and romance: later adolescent relationships and young adult union formation. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(5), 1210–1226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, S., Franzetta, K., Schelar, E., & Manlove, J. (2009). Family structure history: Links to relationship formation behaviors in young adulthood. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(4), 935–953.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santelli, J., & Melnika, A. (2013). Teen fertility in transition: Recent and historic trends in the United States. Annual Review of Public Health, 31, 71–383.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teachman, J. (2004). The childhood living arrangements of children and the characteristics of their marriages. Journal of Family Issues, 25(1), 86–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2011). Table MS-2. Estimated median age at first marriage, by sex: 1890 to the Present.

  • Uecker, J., & Stokes, C. (2008). Early marriage in the United States. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(4), 835–846.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie, Y., Raymo, J., Goyette, K., & Thornton, A. (2003). Economic potential and entry into marriage and cohabitation. Demography, 40(2), 351–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding for this research was provided in part by the Center for Family and Demographic Research at Bowling Green State University which has core funding from The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (R24HD050959). An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, 223 Williams Hall, Bowling Green, OH, 43403, USA

    Wendy D. Manning

  2. Sociology Department, St. Mary’s University, 202 Charles Francis Hall, San Antonio, TX, 78228-8579, USA

    Jessica A. Cohen

Authors
  1. Wendy D. Manning
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jessica A. Cohen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wendy D. Manning.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Manning, W.D., Cohen, J.A. Teenage Cohabitation, Marriage, and Childbearing. Popul Res Policy Rev 34, 161–177 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-014-9341-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-014-9341-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation