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Towards a deeper understanding of cohabitation: insights from focus group research across Europe and Australia

Towards a deeper understanding of cohabitation: insights from focus group research across Europe and Australia
Towards a deeper understanding of cohabitation: insights from focus group research across Europe and Australia
BACKGROUND
Across the industrialized world, more people are living together without marrying. Although researchers have compared cohabitation cross-nationally using quantitative data, few have compared union formation using qualitative data.

OBJECTIVE
We use focus group research to compare social norms of cohabitation and marriage in Australia and nine countries in Europe. We explore questions such as: what is the meaning of cohabitation? Is cohabitation indistinguishable from marriage, a prelude to marriage, or an alternative to being single? Are the meanings of cohabitation similar across countries?

METHODS
Collaborators conducted 7-8 focus groups in each country using a standardized guideline. They analysed the discussions by performing bottom-up coding within each thematic area. They then presented the data in a standardized report. The first and second authors systematically coded and analysed the reports, with direct input from collaborators.

RESULTS
The results from each country describe a specific picture of union formation. However, three themes emerge repeatedly in all focus groups: commitment, testing, and freedom. The pervasiveness of these concepts suggests that marriage and cohabitation have distinct meanings, with marriage representing a stronger level of commitment. Cohabitation is a way to test the relationship and represents freedom. Nonetheless, other discourses emerged in the focus groups suggesting that cohabitation has multiple meanings.

CONCLUSIONS
This study illuminates how context shapes partnership formation, but also presents underlying reasons for the development of cohabitation. We find that the increase in cohabitation has not devalued the concept of marriage, but has become a way to preserve marriage as an ideal for long-term commitment.
?
cohabitation, Europe, family, marriage, partnership, relationships, unions
1043-1078
Perelli-Harris, Brienna
9d3d6b25-d710-480b-8677-534d58ebe9ed
Mynarska, Monika
9f034857-22a2-467d-9bc2-1a297289741a
Berghammer, Caroline
7b142480-3674-4704-9e98-f29279c1efe4
Berrington, Ann
bd0fc093-310d-4236-8126-ca0c7eb9ddde
Evans, Ann
42718519-42cb-43ab-a783-095047f66d2c
Isupova, Olga
c34cbc25-296f-4e4b-b3e8-b0a963567366
Keizer, Renske
0acf2d06-1f3b-42fd-a895-1370e8f912b0
Klaerner, Andreas
a1614ea6-dd91-4478-9d2d-edd5a971517f
Lappegard, Trude
2d769fe4-e8d8-4e05-beb6-fba14d9de795
Vignoli, Daniele
f4250619-e386-4c1f-a931-80247c8127fe
Perelli-Harris, Brienna
9d3d6b25-d710-480b-8677-534d58ebe9ed
Mynarska, Monika
9f034857-22a2-467d-9bc2-1a297289741a
Berghammer, Caroline
7b142480-3674-4704-9e98-f29279c1efe4
Berrington, Ann
bd0fc093-310d-4236-8126-ca0c7eb9ddde
Evans, Ann
42718519-42cb-43ab-a783-095047f66d2c
Isupova, Olga
c34cbc25-296f-4e4b-b3e8-b0a963567366
Keizer, Renske
0acf2d06-1f3b-42fd-a895-1370e8f912b0
Klaerner, Andreas
a1614ea6-dd91-4478-9d2d-edd5a971517f
Lappegard, Trude
2d769fe4-e8d8-4e05-beb6-fba14d9de795
Vignoli, Daniele
f4250619-e386-4c1f-a931-80247c8127fe

Perelli-Harris, Brienna, Mynarska, Monika and Berghammer, Caroline et al. (2014) Towards a deeper understanding of cohabitation: insights from focus group research across Europe and Australia. [in special issue: Special Collection: Focus on Partnerships: Discourses on cohabitation and marriage throughout Europe and Australia] Demographic Research, 31 (34), 1043-1078. (doi:10.4054/DemRes.2014.31.34).

Record type: Article

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Across the industrialized world, more people are living together without marrying. Although researchers have compared cohabitation cross-nationally using quantitative data, few have compared union formation using qualitative data.

OBJECTIVE
We use focus group research to compare social norms of cohabitation and marriage in Australia and nine countries in Europe. We explore questions such as: what is the meaning of cohabitation? Is cohabitation indistinguishable from marriage, a prelude to marriage, or an alternative to being single? Are the meanings of cohabitation similar across countries?

METHODS
Collaborators conducted 7-8 focus groups in each country using a standardized guideline. They analysed the discussions by performing bottom-up coding within each thematic area. They then presented the data in a standardized report. The first and second authors systematically coded and analysed the reports, with direct input from collaborators.

RESULTS
The results from each country describe a specific picture of union formation. However, three themes emerge repeatedly in all focus groups: commitment, testing, and freedom. The pervasiveness of these concepts suggests that marriage and cohabitation have distinct meanings, with marriage representing a stronger level of commitment. Cohabitation is a way to test the relationship and represents freedom. Nonetheless, other discourses emerged in the focus groups suggesting that cohabitation has multiple meanings.

CONCLUSIONS
This study illuminates how context shapes partnership formation, but also presents underlying reasons for the development of cohabitation. We find that the increase in cohabitation has not devalued the concept of marriage, but has become a way to preserve marriage as an ideal for long-term commitment.
?

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e-pub ahead of print date: 12 November 2014
Keywords: cohabitation, Europe, family, marriage, partnership, relationships, unions
Organisations: Social Statistics & Demography

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 373480
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/373480
PURE UUID: d835f223-e338-4a83-9cb8-01e122492790
ORCID for Brienna Perelli-Harris: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8234-4007
ORCID for Ann Berrington: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1683-6668

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Date deposited: 20 Jan 2015 14:22
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:38

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Contributors

Author: Monika Mynarska
Author: Caroline Berghammer
Author: Ann Berrington ORCID iD
Author: Ann Evans
Author: Olga Isupova
Author: Renske Keizer
Author: Andreas Klaerner
Author: Trude Lappegard
Author: Daniele Vignoli

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