Traditional and modern cohabitation in Latin America: A comparative typology

Autor: Bart Meuleman, Maira Covre-Sussai, Koenraad Matthijs, Sarah Botterman
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Demographic Research, Vol 32, p 32 (2015)
Popis: BACKGROUNDThe existence of cohabitation is a historical feature of nuptiality in Latin America. Traditionally, cohabitation was common in less developed regions, among the lower social classes. But today its occurrence is increasing and in social groups and regions in which it was not common. The features of this latter type of cohabitation remain unclear.OBJECTIVEWe differentiate types of cohabitation in Latin America on the basis of relationship context at its outset and its outcomes in terms of childbearing. The comparability of these types over countries is attested, as well as their evolution over time and the educational and age profiles of cohabitants.METHODSDemographic and Health Survey data for the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s for up to eight countries are analyzed by means of Multiple Group Latent Class Analysis.RESULTSThree types of cohabitation are found. The traditional type includes young and lower-educated women who start to cohabit during adolescence. They have more children at younger ages. The remaining two types of cohabitation included higher-educated women and are considered modern. The innovative type groups women from all age groups, with fewer children born at a higher age and never as a single woman. Blended cohabitation refers to older women, who could negotiate a marriage, but do not. They start to cohabit during adulthood, but always after single pregnancy.CONCLUSIONSThe persistence of historical trends is attested. Traditional cohabitation is related to socioeconomic deprivation and prevails in Central American and Caribbean countries. However, two modern types of cohabitation are emerging in the region. They are concentrated in the South and related to women's independence.1. IntroductionPatterns of family formation have changed markedly over the past decades in the West. Economic, technological, social, and ideational changes have led to significant transformations in family life, such as union formation, union stability, and gender relations. In developed countries, new forms of living arrangement, especially unmarried cohabitation, are interpreted as outcomes of the modernization process, female economic independence, and the rising symmetry in gender roles (van de Kaa 1987). Recent evidence has shown that cohabitation in the West is also related to economic deprivation and has been used as an alternative to marriage by people with few economic resources or poor economic expectations (e.g., Hiekel et al. 2012; Kalmijn 2011; Kiernan et al. 2011 [for European results]; Sassler and Miller 2011; Bumpass et al. 1991 [results for the US]).Although the rise in consensual unions is present in developed countries as well as in Latin American countries, the features of these unions can differ. This study seeks to contribute to the existing literature by investigating the types of cohabitation that exist in Latin America, as well as their prevalence, main characteristics, and evolution through time. Therefore we differentiate types of cohabitation on the basis of the relationship context at their beginning (woman's age and occurrence of pre-cohabitation pregnancy or childbearing) and their outcomes in terms of childbearing (number of children and mother's age at birth of first child).The coexistence of marriage and cohabitation is a historical feature of nuptiality in Latin America (Castro-Martin 2002). Cohabitation has always been marked by high fertility, it was most prevalent in rural regions and among the lower and less-educated social classes (Parrado and Tienda 1997). Today, there is evidence that another type of cohabitation is coming into existence alongside traditional cohabitation in the region (e.g., Castro-Martin 2002; Esteve et al. 2012). Yet the exact interpretation of this new type of cohabitation, often characterized as a more modern type of union formation, remains unclear. Indications exist illustrating that this type of cohabitation is closely linked to the consensual union practiced by higher-educated groups in Western developed countries5 (Binstock and Cabella 20116; Parrado and Tienda 19977), where cohabitation is usually a childless period, an alternative to marriage or singlehood, and more visible among younger cohorts (Heuveline and Timberlake 2004; Kiernan 2004). …
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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