Brienna perelli harris

How similar are cohabitation and marriage? Demographic trends and legal approaches

across Western Europe

Research funded by

European Research Council Starting Grant CHILDCOHAB

Centre for Population Change

Brienna Perelli-Harris

University of Southampton

http://www.cpc.ac.uk/

Increase in cohabitation

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. Austria

.

.

.

.

Belgium

.

.

.

.

Bulgaria

.

.

.

.Estonia

.

.

.

. France

. .

.. Italy

.

.

.

Netherlands

.

.

.

.Norway

.Poland

..

..

Romania

..

..

Russia

..

.

.

Spain

.

.

.

.

United Kingdom

.

.

USA

010

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

10

0P

erc

enta

ge h

avi

ng e

ver

coh

ab

ited

Pre-1940 1940-49 1950-59 1960-69 1970-79Birth cohort

Proportion of women reporting ever cohabiting by country

3

Increase in childbearing within cohabitation

Source: Harmonized Histories Database

1970-74 1975-79 1980-84 1985-89 1990-94 1995-990

10

20

30

40

50

60

First births in cohabitation

Per

cen

t

Estonia

Norway

France

Austria

UKNDLUSA

RussiaBulgaria

Spain

HungaryRomania

Poland

4

Non-Marital Fertility in Europe 1960

Kluesener, Sebastian, Brienna Perelli-Harris, and Nora Sánchez Gassen. 2012. “Spatial Aspects of the Rise of Nonmarital Fertility across Europe since 1960: The Role of States and Regions in shaping Patterns of Change.” European Journal of Population.

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Overarching Research Question

How and why has cohabitation and childbearing within cohabitation spread

throughout industrialized nations,And what are the consequences for children

and families?

Nonmarital Childbearing Network www.nonmarital.org

Changes in marriage and cohabitation

1. Trends 3. Consequences2. Explanations

Harmonized Histories

Qualitative data

Policy analysis

Focus group research in 10 countries

Survey dataGenerations and Gender Surveys

Survey dataGenerations and Gender Surveys

Legal approaches across Western Europe

10

Brienna Perelli-Harris and Nora Sánchez Gassen“How Similar Are Cohabitation and Marriage? Legal Approaches toCohabitation across Western Europe”Population and Development Review 38(3) : 435–467 (September 2012)

Do state policies influence couples’ choices between cohabitation and marriage?

ORDo states enact new policies in response to changing behavior?

→ Number of policies

→ Approach of policies

Equality between cohabitation and

marriage

Differences between marriage

and cohabitation

Analytical framework

Data

• 9 Western European countries• National level legislation• Legal situation in 2010

during relationship

relationship breakdown

in case of death

Income tax systems

Health insurance

Social Security

Financial maintenance

Adoption and assisted reproduction

Foreigners‘ rights

Alimony

Division of property and household goods

Debts

Remain in deceased partner’s apartment

Survivor’s pension

Inheritance rights and tax

Relationship between partners

19 policy dimensions

Establishment of paternity Joint Custody Naming of children

Unmarried fathersand children

Quantity and Approach of Policies

• Number of laws: Law (explicit)

Law (implicit)

No law

• Coherence of laws: Neutrality towards cohabitation (Neutrality)

Some differences between cohabitation and marriage (In Between)

Completely different rights for cohabiting and married couples (Difference)

Source: Authors’ analyses based on legal documents and literature

Quantity and Approach

Example: Policy database for England

1. During cohabitation

Income taxHealth

insuranceFinancial

maintenanceSocial security

Reproductive technology

Adoptions rights

Residence permit

Acquisition of citizenship

No law No law No law Law (explicit) Law (implicit) Law (explicit) Law (explicit) No lawNEUTRALITY NEUTRALITY DIFFERENCE NEUTRALITY NEUTRALITY NEUTRALITY NEUTRALITY DIFFERENCE




2. Relationship breakdown

3. After death of one partner

Right to remain in rented appartment

Inheritance rights Inheritance tax Survivor's pension

Law (explicit) Law (explicit) No law No law

NEUTRALITYINTERMEDIATE

POSITIONDIFFERENCE DIFFERENCE

Household goods Assets Alimony Debts

No law No law No law No lawDIFFERENCE DIFFERENCE DIFFERENCE NEUTRALITY




4. Cohabiting fathers and their children

Legal treatment of cohabitors in England is inconsistent:

Cohabitation is mentioned in some laws; in other policy areas, cohabitants are ignored by the law

Cohabitors share the rights of married couples in some policy areas; in other policy areas, differences remain

Paternity J oint custody Family name

Law (implicit) Law (implicit) Law (implicit)INTERMEDIATE

POSITIONNEUTRALITY NEUTRALITY

Quantity

18Nethe

rland

s - R

Franc

e - R

Norway

Sweden

Nethe

rland

s - U

Austri

aSpa

in

Switzer

land

Franc

e - U

Englan

d

Germ

any

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

No national legislation

No laws

Implicit laws

Explicit laws

Nu

mb

er

of

po

licy

are

as

Number of policy areas in which cohabitation is explicitly, implicitly, or not mentioned in the law, by country

Approach

19Nethe

rland

s - R

Sweden

Franc

e - R

Norway

Nethe

rland

s - U

Engla

nd

Austri

a

Spain

Franc

e - U

Ger

man

y

Switzer

land

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18 No national leg-islation

Marriage and cohabitation treated dif-ferently

Intermediate position on marriage and cohabitation

No difference between mar-riage and co-habitation (neu-trality)

Nu

mb

er

of

po

licy

are

as

Number of policy areas in which the approach to cohabitation is similar to marriage (neutrality), different from marriage, or in an intermediate position, by country

Conclusions• Caveats:

– Choice of policy dimensions (single mothers?)– Weighting of different policy areas

• Substantial variation in the extent to which countries have legislated on cohabitation.

• While countries are moving towards legislating cohabitation, marriage remains a distinct institution.

Policy recommendations• Further research is needed to better understand

how or whether policies impact behavior

• Difficult to advocate a particular solution without further knowledge about the consequences of different family structures, and the consequences of those family structures in specific contexts.

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• If laws and regulations are expanded to incorporate cohabitation, what does that imply for the institution of marriage?

• If marriage is no longer the sole state-sanctioned relationship for raising children, will children become irrelevant for decisions to marry?

• As the legal function of marriage becomes less important, will marriage take on different social meanings, such as status symbol or indicator of emotional commitment?

Many questions!

Brienna perelli harris

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