Of Fathers and Pheromones: Implications of Cohabitation for Daughters’ Pubertal Timing

One of the most dramatic implications of cohabitation for children’s lives is its relation to biological family composition. Children living in married-couple families are about twice as likely as children living in cohabiting-parent families to live largely with both biological parents (81% vs. 40%; Manning, chap. 8, this volume). Conversely, children living in cohabiting-parent families are about three times as likely as children living in married-couple families to live with a biologically unrelated parent (60% vs. 19%; Manning, chap. 8, this volume). Furthermore, given the short life span of cohabiting unions, even children who currently live with both biological parents in cohabiting families are likely to experience changes in the biological composition of their families in the future.