title: Redefining single-parent families: cohabitation and changing family reality.
abstract: This paper explores the implications, for the measured prevalence and duration of mother-only families, of marked changes in nonmarital fertility, unmarried cohabitation, and homeleaving and re-entry. Throughout, estimates are compared on the basis of marital definitions and definitions including cohabitation. The duration of the first single-parent spell appears to have increased under the marital definition, but declines substantially when cohabitations are taken into account. A substantial proportion of single mothers have spent some time as single parents while in their parents' household. Hence we argue that definitions of single-parent families must be based on living arrangements rather than on the parents' marital status.
authors.affiliation: Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53706-1393, USA.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Bumpass
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Raley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004243:Divorce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005114:Extramarital Relations; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007086:Illegitimacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D017533:Marital Status; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015406:Single Parent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012931:Social Environment; D017805:Widowhood / Q000706:statistics & numerical data