Volume 30 - Article 55 | Pages 1527–1560
Income pooling strategies among cohabiting and married couples: A comparative perspective
By Nicole Hiekel, Aart C. Liefbroer, Anne-Rigt Poortman
This article is part of the Special Collection 19 "New Relationships from a Comparative Perspective"
Abstract
Background: Studies explaining why cohabiters are more likely to keep money separate than spouses have mainly focused on selection processes, without taking into account the heterogeneity within both union types in levels of commitment. Cross-national studies are rare and have predominantly included Northern and Western European countries, the United States, and Canada.
Objective: This study explains the higher likelihood of cohabiters to keep income separate by selection as well as commitment factors and explores country differences, including countries from Central and Eastern Europe.
Methods: Using data from the Generations and Gender Surveys of Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Romania, and Russia, N=41,456 cohabiting and married individuals are studied. Binary logistic regression models of the likelihood that respondents keep money separate are calculated.
Results: Across countries, higher education, female labor market participation, both partners being employed, short union duration, absence of joint children, presence of separation thoughts, and (for cohabiters) a lack of marital intentions are the most persistent correlates of keeping money separate. Differences between cohabiters and married couples are reduced when selection and commitment are taken into account, but are still significant. Cross-national variation in the effect of cohabitation on keeping separate purses is persistent.
Conclusions: Different money management strategies of cohabiters and spouses can be explained to some extent by selection processes and inherent differences in the level of commitment within cohabitation and marriage. Countries also differ in the socio-economic context and norms concerning the way intimate relationships are organized which might lead to persistent differences in the way cohabiting and married couples organize their income.
Author's Affiliation
- Nicole Hiekel - Max-Planck-Institut für Demografische Forschung, Germany EMAIL
- Aart C. Liefbroer - Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI), the Netherlands EMAIL
- Anne-Rigt Poortman - Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands EMAIL
Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research
Generations and Gender Programme Wave 1 data collection: An overview and assessment of sampling and fieldwork methods, weighting procedures, and cross-sectional representativeness
Volume 34 - Article 18
Why do intimate partners live apart? Evidence on LAT relationships across Europe
Volume 32 - Article 8
Religion and union dissolution: Effects of couple and municipal religiosity on divorce and separation
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Parental socioeconomic status and the timing of first marriage: What is the role of unmarried cohabitation? Results from a cross-national comparison
Volume 45 - Article 15
Running out of time? Understanding the consequences of the biological clock for the dynamics of fertility intentions and union formation
Volume 40 - Article 1
Love. Break up. Repeat: The prevalence and stability of serial cohabitation among West German women and men born in the early 1970s
Volume 39 - Article 30
Joint lifestyles and the risk of union dissolution: Differences between marriage and cohabitation
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Editorial for Special Collection on New Relationships from a Comparative Perspective
Volume 37 - Article 2
The timing of parenthood and its effect on social contact and support
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Risk-avoidance or utmost commitment: Dutch focus group research on views on cohabitation and marriage
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European views of divorce among parents of young children: Understanding cross-national variation
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Timing of first union among second-generation Turks in Europe: The role of parents, peers and institutional context
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