From the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch, Center for Population Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health

Cohabitation has continued to increase dramatically in recent years as younger women have moved into the prime marriage and child-bearing years. Half of women in their 30s in 1995 had lived with an intimate sexual partner outside of marriage. The share of women ages 20 to 24 who had ever lived in a cohabiting relationship increased by one third between 1988 and 1995. The increase was even more dramatic for women in their late 30s; the share who had ever cohabited grew about 60 percent during this same time period.

Cohabitation, once rare, is now the norm: The researchers found that more than half (54 percent) of all first marriages between 1990 and 1994 began with unmarried cohabitation. They estimate that a majority of young men and women of marriageable age today will spend some time in a cohabiting relationship.

Cohabitation is most widespread among couples with lower levels of education. The sharpest increase in cohabitation between 1988 and 1995 occurred among high school graduates (44 percent), the smallest among college graduates (19 percent). Although cohabitation increased among both whites and African Americans, the increase was much greater among whites; by 1995, there was no racial difference in the proportion of women who had ever cohabited.

Cohabiting relationships are less stable than marriages and that instability is increasing, the study found. The share of cohabiting partners who eventually married each other declined from 60 percent to 53 percent between 1988 and 1995. The proportion of cohabiting couples whose relationships ended within 5 years increased from 45 percent to 54 percent, whether or not the partners ever married. The researchers suggest that the lower marriage and higher breakup rates reflect the fact that living together has become more widespread and is now practiced by couples with a less serious commitment to a longterm relationship.

September 2002