title: Cohabitation in Western Europe.
abstract: This article examines for a range of European countries: the extent to which men and women are not forming partnerships and how this has changed over time; the number of partnerships experienced; type of first partnership in terms of whether it commences with marriage or cohabitation and, if the latter, whether it converts into marriage; as well as the duration of different types of cohabiting unions. It also includes an examination of the risk of breakdown amongst first unions that commence with cohabitation or marriage and the variations in type of first union according to background characteristics, including: educational attainment, religious observance and experience of parental divorce in childhood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kiernan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003625:Data Collection / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008393:Marriage / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012067:Religion; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013997:Time Factors