Volume 17 - Article 10 | Pages 247-300

First union formation in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: patterns across countries and gender

By Kalev Katus, Allan Puur, Asta Põldma, Luule Sakkeus


Date received:	03 Apr 2007
Date published:	16 Nov 2007
Word count:	16300
Keywords:	Baltic countries, gender system, union formation
DOI:	10.4054/DemRes.2007.17.10

Abstract

This article examines the transformation of first union formation in the Baltic countries between the late 1960s and early 1990s, in the context of societal and family-level gender relations. The analyses employ microdata from the European Family and Fertility Surveys program. Our results on the trends indicate that in Estonia and Latvia the shift from direct marriage to cohabitation started well before the fall of socialist regime. Event-history models provide support for a hypothesised association between union formation and gender system, with Lithuania showing more traditional features in both respect, plausibly embedded in long-standing cultural differences between the countries.

Author's Affiliation

Kalev Katus - Estonian Interuniversity Population Research Centre, Estonia [Email]
Allan Puur - Estonian Institute for Population Studies, Tallinn University, Estonia [Email]
Asta Põldma - Estonian Institute for Population Studies, Tallinn University, Estonia [Email]
Luule Sakkeus - Estonian Interuniversity Population Research Centre, Estonia [Email]