First premarital cohabitation in the United States: 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth.

Abstract

Forty-eight percent of women interviewed in 2006-2010 cohabited with a partner as a first union, compared with 34% of women in 1995. Between 1995 and 2006-2010, the percentage of women who cohabited as a first union increased for all Hispanic origin and race groups, except for Asian women. In 2006-2010, 70% of women with less than a high school diploma cohabited as a first union, compared with 47% of women with a bachelor's degree or higher. First premarital cohabitations were longest for foreign-born Hispanic women (33 months) and shortest for white women (19 months). In 2006-2010, 40% of first premarital cohabitations among women transitioned to marriage by 3 years, 32% remained intact, and 27% dissolved. Nearly 20% of women experienced a pregnancy in the first year of their first premarital cohabitation.