ABSTRACT
Changes in union formation in the United States over the last four decades are well documented but poorly understood. The U.S. Census Bureau and various national surveys have tracked high but currently stable rates of divorce, postponement of and recent declines in marriage, and the relatively recent rise in cohabitation (Bumpass, 1990; Cherlin, 1992; Fields & Casper, 2001; Fitch & Ruggles, 2000; Raley, 2000). The trends also indicate that young people continue to establish intimate relations with romantic partners, as rates of union formation, including marital and cohabiting unions, have remained fairly stable (Bumpass, Sweet, & Cherlin, 1991; Raley, 2000). Furthermore, although most individuals eventually marry at least once, more than one half of marriages formed between 1990 and 1994 began as cohabitations (Bumpass & Lu, 2000).
