A Research Note on the Stability of Coresidential Unions Formed Postconception

• Author: Karen Benjamin Guzzo
• Published date: 01 August 2018
• Date: 01 August 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12498

K B G Bowling Green State University

A Research Note on the Stability of Coresidential

Unions Formed Postconception

There is a large literature examining the stabil-

ity of mid-pregnancy unions, and parallel work

on unions formed after a nonmarital birth, but

research has yet to compare pre- and postbirth

unions and simultaneously consider whether

the union is with the father or a new part-

ner. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of

Youth, 1997 Cohort, the author compares the

stability of coresidential unions (cohabitations

and marriages) among three groups of moth-

ers with nonunion rst conceptions: those with a

mid-pregnancy union with the father (n =203),

those with a postbirth union with the father

(n =333), and those with a union with a new

partner (n =342). Compared to mid-pregnancy

unions with the father, postbirth father unions

are 35% more likely to dissolve. New-partner

unions are morelikely to dissolve than both types

of father unions. These associations persist when

accounting for union type and socioeconomic

and demographic characteristics.

Changes in the response to conceptions occur-

ring outside of cohabitation and marriage are

part of broader shifts in the link between mar-

riage and childbearing. Much has been written

about coresidential unions formed after a con-

ception but prior to birth—how frequently these

unions occur, what form these unions take

Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University,

Bowling Green, OH 43403-0222

(kguzzo@bgsu.edu).

Key Words: dissolution, fertility, NLSY, union formation.

(cohabitation or marriage), and the stability of

these unions. These studies show that even as

fewer nonunion conceptions are immediately

followed by a coresidential union prior to birth

(England, Wu, & Shafer, 2013), a growing

proportion of women’s unions appear to be

prompted by such an event (Gibson-Davis,

Ananat, & Gassman-Pines, 2016; Gibson-Davis

& Rackin, 2014; Hayford, Guzzo, & Smock,

2014; Lichter, Sassler, & Turner, 2014). Fur-

thermore, coresidential unions formed during

pregnancy (colloquially known as “shotgun”

unions and referred to as “mid-pregnancy”

unions hereafter) seem to be at an elevated

risk of instability (Gibson-Davis et al., 2016;

Lichter, Michelmore, Turner, & Sassler, 2016).

What is generally missing from the litera-

ture on the timing and ordering of conception

and union formation or stability is recognition

that postconception cohabitation or marriage

with a biological parent can occur not only

prior to the birth but also afterward. Although

demographic analyses often consider a birth

as the end-point for legitimating a conception

occurring outside of a coresidential union or

as the starting point for exposure to union

formation with a new partner, it is almost cer-

tainly the case that individuals view romantic

relationships, coresidential unions, conceptions,

births, and postbirth behaviors as part of a

longer arc in which these events are not discrete

or separate. Put differently, not cohabiting or

marrying prior to birth does not preclude the

possibility of living with their child’s other par-

ent after the birth (McLanahan & Beck, 2010;

Waller, 2001).

Journal of Marriage and Family 80 (August 2018): 841–852 841

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12498