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Marriage, cohabitation and the residential independence of young people in Spain
Abstract
Cohabitation in Spain is low compared to most European countries. However, this cannot be explained by marriage being an alternative choice. The younger generation of Spaniards is increasingly delaying residential independence, a majority staying with their families of origin until they are well into their thirties. Recent empirical evidence shows that social perceptions towards cohabitation are quite positive. Only a minority of the population considers it unacceptable. The legal context is also rapidly changing, especially as a result of the pressure of homosexual organizations. Looking towards the future, the question that arises is whether there is a common trend towards increasing cohabitation throughout Europe. In the Spanish case some of the main factors which explain late residential autonomy seem to be changing quickly, while others remain an obstacle to the formation of new families, whether through cohabitation or marriage.
... It is estimated that approximately 6 percent of all births t6 women bom in the 1950s and 1 960s occurred within an unmarried union (Baizan et al., 2003), and according to the trends observed in the early 1990s, fewer than 15 percent of women would cohabit during their lives (Heuveline and Timberlake 2004). However, despite the low proportions of unmarried unions, social perceptions of cohabitation in Spain is quite positive, and only a minority of the population considers it unacceptable (Tobio, 2001). Given the small number of cohabitants who are reached by standard surveys, relati vely little is known about their characteristics. ...
... Given the small number of cohabitants who are reached by standard surveys, relati vely little is known about their characteristics. Qualitati ve surveys of urban cohabitors in the 1980s however suggest that cohabiting couples were formed by people who were ideologically opposed to marriage (Tobio, 2001). ...
... ln Spain, no nationallegislation regulating the rights of unmarried couples exists. As Tobio (2001) points out, there are only three references to cohabitation in Spanish law at the nationallevel. First, remarriage and cohabitation result in a loss of the rights to surviving partner's pension. ...
This paper investigates money management practices in private households. It compares married and cohabiting couples across four countries with different levels of institutionalization of cohabitation and different welfare regimes (Denmark, Spain, France, and the United States). Using data from the International Social Survey Program 2002 module on Changing Family Roles (ISSP 2002), this study shows that the legal status of the union is one of the strongest predictors of the money pooling practices in all four countries. Cohabitors tend to choose independent money management more often than married couples and this finding holds even after controlling for a range of socio-economic and attitudinal characteristics. Moreover, the effect of the union type is rather uniform across these four countries despite their institutional differences.
... Before the reforms took place, the concept of family was based, by definition, on masculine authority and women's dependence. " Marriage was conceived as a sacrament with civil and administrative effects, which justified differences between children born in and out of marriage " (Tobio, 2001). ...
... In the new socio-economic context, marriage patterns have changed as well. The last decades have been characterised by a postponement of first union (Castro Martin, 1993; Baizan, 2001; Tobio, 2001). The age at first marriage increased during the last years from 23.5 in 1980 to 27.4 in 1998 for women, and from 25.9 in 1980 to 29.4 in 1998 for men (Eurostat, 1997). ...
... Spain, as Italy, is a country characterised by very late transition to adulthood: late age at leaving school, late age at first job and late age at leaving home (Baizan, 2001). Late age at leaving school is attributable to prolonged education, and an increase in educational facilities at different levels (Tobio, 2001). Empirical analyses demonstrate the importance of education in determining the late age at first marriage. ...
In recent times, both the time spent on education and the age at first union formation have significantly increased in Italy and Spain. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence of the endogeneity of the two processes. We use Panel data (European Community Household Panel), which provide detailed standardised information for both countries about education and training processes as a well as household formation. The effect of unobservable characteristics affecting the two processes at the same time has been controlled for, using simultaneous hazard modelling. On the one hand, the exit from the educational system increases the risk of entering the first union. On the other hand, there exist individual unobserved characteristics that influence the occurrence of the two processes simultaneously. If these characteristics are not controlled for, the effect of a completed education on union formation becomes biased upward.
... A point of continuing social adversity has been reached in Spanish and Italian societies, calling for welfare state intervention. Welfare systems of these countries only provide for high-risk social protection, lacking coverage for the 'normal' functioning of the family and the risks of the individual, and leaving mothers to this management (Tobío 2001a(Tobío , 2001bTrifiletti 1999;Bettio and Villa 1998;Moreno 2002). Women dedicated to caring continue to be dependent on the family, particularly the male-breadwinner, for social protection entitlements (Bussemaker and van Kersbergen 1999). ...
... More than 50% of Spanish and Italian populations are single and between the ages of 20-34, exhibiting the highest proportions of single people in Europe. Nonetheless, there have been insignificant rates of cohabitation, less than 3% for both countries (Kiernan 1999;Tobío 2001a;Moreno 2002;EC 2001). In fact, only 14% of the Spanish population in 1997 preferred 'living together without being married' (CIS 1997). ...
This paper compares Spanish and Italian welfare policies, evaluating their ability to better facilitate women's reconciliation of work and family life. In doing so, it considers the gender roles and gender divisions of labor inherent in legislation and welfare reforms. While much of the literature assumes the welfare states of Spain and Italy to be similar (i.e., by classifying them under the Southern European welfare model), this paper exemplifies their actual differences. It qualitatively addresses new social, demographic, and economic changes and challenges in Spain and Italy. Using data primarily collected from OECD, Eurostat, INE, and ISTAT, a secondary data analysis is performed on recent social situations and reconciliation policies. In particular, this paper analyzes the extent of provision that these welfare states offer women to combine paid and unpaid work, using reconciliation measures including social protection, taxation, part-time employment, leave arrangements, child care, and professional care for the elderly. Results show that Italy and Spain comply, however minimally, with EU directives on family and reconciliation policies. These inadequate policies are catching up with the welfare states of both Spain and Italy in the form of low fertility rates and population ageing. Thus, it is urgent that they recalibrate their family and labor market polices towards better support of women and their reconciliation of employment and family life.
... In Spain only seven in ten people at the age of 29 are economically independent. Note that in 1984 two out of three of those aged 25 were standing in their own two feet, but the proportion has dropped to one-third in ten years (Tobío, 2001a). Approaches towards life styles increasingly reinforce an Epicurean and self-interested understanding of collective life, while family sacrifices are assessed in a negative manner. ...
... Further to this, it should be pointed out that although in 1981 female activity rate for the 30-34 age group was only 30.8% in 1989, it jumped to 68.1% in 1999. If projections are accomplished women's participation in the labour market for the year 2005 in the age group 35-39 years would reach 85% (Tobío, 2001a). ...
... Spain, possibly as a backlash to its authoritarian past with Franco's dictatorship, has seen very fast attitudinal change regarding divorce, cohabitation, and related phenomena (Juszczyk-Frelkiewicz, 2021). These perceptions often arise from a conscious rejection of traditional family structures (Tobío, 2001). Thus, the rapidity of these changes could represent not only a greater diversity of couple or family arrangements, as in other western countries like the United States, but a further weakening of the social norms surrounding marriage (Cherlin, 2004). ...
Young adults’ beliefs about life-long commitment such as marriage are decisive when making decisions and setting life priorities. Using a representative sample of Spanish emerging adults (ages 18–29), we explored the relationship between beliefs about marriage and life priorities (also called ultimate concerns). Using latent class analysis, we found six different marital paradigms among the population: indifferent, reject, contextual, hesitant, convinced, and traditionalist. These groups were significantly different in their life priorities—for example, in the importance they assign to parenting or their professional career. The traits of emerging adults in each paradigm helped explain differences in risk-taking and sexual behaviors, particularly for men. In sum, marital beliefs are relevant when seeking to understand the commitments, decisions, and behaviors of emerging adults.
... Secondly, labor market flexibility and the economic crisis that began in 2007-2008 undoubtedly increased uncertainty about future decisions regarding family formation. Thirdly, the legal reforms undertaken in 1981 (legalization of divorce) to adapt the Civil Code to the 1978 Spanish Constitution based on the principle of equal rights for women and men, as well as among all children, affected family formation (Alberdi, 1999) because women and men were afforded equal rights in marriage and cohabitation (Tobio, 2001). Moreover, all children are now considered equal by the law-regardless of their parents' marital status-and married and, since 2005, there are no legal distinctions between same-sex and heterosexual unions. ...
This paper addresses the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and first union formation in Spain by analyzing the influence of educational attainment and employment history on the transition to non-marital cohabitation and direct marriage, highlighting inter-generational and gender-specific trends over time. To this end, this contribution approaches a longitudinal gender perspective which applies an event-history-analysis competing-risk setting to data of the last available Fertility Survey (FS) conducted by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics in 2018. Results show that, among women, the positive educational gradient of first cohabitation reversed, while the negative educational gradient for marriage intensified across generations. Regarding the economic gradient remained stable across generations for marriage entries and is still central for entering cohabitation, even if is less relevant for women in the youngest birth cohorts. For men, the influence of having achieved tertiary education lose its strength over time with each successive generation, while the effect of employment history on both cohabitation and marriage has diminished for successive birth cohorts.
... Where kinship ties are weaker, as in Northern Europe and the United States, the influence exerted by parents tends to be less stringent, with a stronger emphasis on individualism (Cherlin 2009), resulting in a more rapid transition to independence and a larger diffusion of secularised behaviours. According to other authors, differences may persist because of different welfare regimes, institutional settings, and opportunity structures (e.g., youth unemployment, low salaries, expensive housing markets) that favour or hinder the decision to cohabit and the propensity to transform cohabitation into marriage (Buchmann 1989;Esping-Andersen 1990;Ekert-Jaffe and Solaz 2001;Gauthier 2002;Naldini 2003;Tobío 2001;Vogel 2002). Public policies may support some types of family structure over others and provide incentives or disincentives to cohabit, marry, and have children in or outside marriage (Gauthier 2007). ...
BACKGROUND During the last decades, nonmarital cohabitation has diffused throughout the industrialised world, although not uniformly. The Second Demographic Transition (SDT) predicts a convergence of cohabitation patterns towards a final stage in which cohabitation and marriage will be almost indistinguishable. OBJECTIVE This paper contributes to the literature on the convergence of cohabitation patterns across countries by testing whether countries are becoming more similar over time, as suggested by the SDT. METHODS We use sequence analysis and cluster analysis techniques to classify different patterns of cohabitation in France, Italy, Norway, Bulgaria, and the United States. Using data mainly stemming from the Gender and Generations Surveys (GGS), we analyse women's patterns of behaviour during the five years following the start of their first cohabitation, over a time span of three decades (1970s-2000s). RESULTS On the basis of sequencing the events of childbirth, marriage, and separation we are able to identify five different clusters corresponding to different ways of going through the cohabitation experience. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that there is a general decreasing trend of cohabitation as a premarital experience and an increasing trend of cohabitation as an alternative to marriage or as a free union. However, within this homogeneous trend, persistent peculiarities at the country level suggest that the selected countries are not simply at different stages of the same trajectory. CONTRIBUTION The classification that emerges from the data-driven approach combines several features of already existing typologies of cohabitation experience. Analysis of the data highlights country peculiarities in the development of the cohabitation experience, rather than the existence of a common path as predicted by the SDT.
... As mentioned above, a considerable heterogeneity has been identified among European countries because of the substantial differences in both the incidence and the meaning of cohabitations (Kiernan 1999;Liefbroer and Dourleijn 2006). Unlike in Northern Europe, where cohabitation has been configured as a definitive alternative to marriage, in the South the literature has portrayed these emerging unions as very small-scale events, typically confined to a specific and select group of people ( Baizán et al. 2003;García Pereiro 2011;Pinelli and De Rose 1995;Prinz 1995;Rosina and Fraboni 2004;Tobío 2001). ...
While in Spain and Italy cohabitation has not acquired the same role that it has had in Northern Europe, in both of these Mediterranean countries cohabitation is no longer a marginal phenomenon. Moreover, the nature of cohabiting couples is diverse. According to the most recent FFS data, first cohabitations constitute a temporary arrangement that usually ends in the formalization of the union (marriage), and within 5 years 28.9 % of first cohabitations in Spain and 51.7 % in Italy were transformed into marriages. Within a Western context of changes in union formation patterns, the study of the choice between marriage and cohabitation as first union is of great significance. Is it possible to identify a shared pattern of union formation in Mediterranean countries like Italy and Spain? The purpose of this paper is to examine the choice between cohabitation and marriage as first union (timing, incidence and determinants) using a comparative life course approach. For the analysis of the timing and prevalence, cumulative incidence curves are calculated by birth cohorts and regions; while two semiparametric competing-risks models are estimated for the determinants of first partnership formation (one for each country), considering birth cohort, parental separation, educational attainment, employment status, age at leaving the parental home and birth of a child (the last three time-varying) as independent variables.
... All prior comparative studies on cohabitation concurred in positioning Spain in the lowest prevalence category-from a crosssectional approach (Heuveline & Timberlake 2004)-or at the initial stage of the partnership transition-from a developmental perspective (Tobío, 2001). Nevertheless, it must be noted that assigning one particular category or diffusion stage to a country is always problematic, because cohabitation may have more than one meaning at the same time in a given society. ...
Although many indicators reflect the marked retreat from marriage occurring in Spain since the 1980s, the diffusion of cohabitation has been slow. The confluence of very low and late fertility, latest-late marriage, and low cohabitation has been largely regarded as defying the predictions of the second demographic transition and has fueled a debate over the distinctiveness of the Mediterranean model of family formation. Comparative analyses based on the Family and Fertility Survey documented the marginal role of cohabitation in Spain and in the rest of southern European countries by the mid-1990s. In this research, the authors used more recent data from the 2006 Spanish Fertility, Family and Values Survey (N=5,750) to reveal that cohabitation has spread significantly among younger cohorts and hence can no longer be considered as playing a marginal role in the family formation process.
... The situation is different in Spain and Italy. The women of age 25 to 29 are not cohabiting but neither are their married (Tobio, 2001:69). This suggests that in some cases we could not describe cohabitation as the substitute of marriage; however, in some other countries this explanation is statistically proved (Kiernan, 1999; Bumpass, Sweet and Cherlin, 1991). ...
The aim of this paper is to study the spread of coh abitation and to compare the socio-demographic characteristics of cohabiting ind ividuals in different countries. The cohabiting partners are compared with married indiv iduals on the basis of age, number of children and their official marital statuses. Th e paper presents a typology of cohabitation in 24 European countries (Austria, Bel gium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Spain, United K ingdom, Greece, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, France, Netherlands, Ukraine, Slovakia and Slovenia). The analysis is ba sed on the European Social Survey 2nd round survey data, from the year 2004. The resu lts show that there is a discrepancy between the typologies conducted on the basis of ma cro level demographical indicators and micro level cohabitation indicators, especially when the indicators on the basis of comparison of cohabiting and married people are tak en into account.
... While the delay in marriage is part of the reason for the diversification of living arrangements among young adults in Northern European and North American countries, young adults in Southern Europe simply prolong the period of coresidence with their parents as marriage is delayed. Previous studies in Mediterranean Europe are, therefore, focused on such questions as why young adults do not leave the parental home until later ages (Rossi 1997, Scabini and Cigoli 1997, Cordon 1997, Holdsworth 1998, Holdsworth and Solda 2002, Tobío 2001, Viazzo 2003, or what the consequences are of prolonged periods spent at home (Dalla Zuanna 2001, Livi-Bacci 2001, Billari and Rosina 2004. Compared to the situation in other industrialized countries, the increase in coresidence with parents in these countries is sometimes seen as a psychological failure of young adults to become independent from their parents (Rossi 1997, Scabini and Cigoli 1997, Dalla Zuanna 2001 5 . ...
Leaving home is a key life event in the transition to adulthood, but it has been relatively less explored in demographic studies of contemporary Japan. This paper examines the relationship between home-leaving intensities of young adults and the rapid social, economic, and demographic changes that took place in post-World War II Japan. By using event-history analysis, the study focuses on 1) family and socio-demographic characteristics, 2) stem-family norms, and 3) proximities of life events and leaving home as the main factors affecting the chances of leaving home. This study aims to explain cohort trends and sex differentials in home-leaving behaviors among young adults in post-war Japan.
... La primera generación de madres trabajadoras no parece que vaya a reproducir los mismos roles. El ciclo, por tanto, parece cerrarse y lo que antes era un «asunto de mujeres» en el ámbito privado familiar pasa a ser un problema social que concierne al conjunto de la sociedad (Tobío, 1999). CONCLUSIÓN La protección social en el régimen mediterráneo sigue dependiendo de la familia como productora y distribuidora de bienestar. ...
Publicado en: Revista Española de Sociología, 2: 41-57, 2002 Peer reviewed
... While the delay in marriage is part of the reason for the diversification of living arrangements among young adults in Northern European and North American countries, young adults in Southern Europe simply prolong the period of coresidence with their parents as marriage is delayed. Previous studies in Mediterranean Europe are, therefore, focused on such questions as why young adults do not leave the parental home until later ages (Rossi 1997, Scabini and Cigoli 1997, Cordon 1997, Holdsworth 1998, Holdsworth and Solda 2002, Tobío 2001, Viazzo 2003, or what the consequences are of prolonged periods spent at home (Dalla Zuanna 2001, Livi-Bacci 2001, Billari and Rosina 2004. Compared to the situation in other industrialized countries, the increase in coresidence with parents in these countries is sometimes seen as a psychological failure of young adults to become independent from their parents (Rossi 1997, Scabini and Cigoli 1997, Dalla Zuanna 2001 5 . ...
Leaving home is a key life event in the transition to adulthood, but it has been relatively less explored in demographic studies of contemporary Japan. This paper examines the relationship between home-leaving intensities of young adults and the rapid social, economic, and demographic changes that took place in post-World War II Japan. By using event-history analysis, the study focuses on 1) family and socio-demographic characteristics, 2) stem-family norms, and 3) proximities of life events and leaving home as the main factors affecting the chances of leaving home. This study aims to explain cohort trends and sex differentials in home-leaving behaviors among young adults in post-war Japan.
... With regard to recent trends in independent living, a previous study based on FFS data revealed that, contrary to the evolution observed in Northern Europe, Southern European countries display a downward trend in the propensity to leave the parental home in order to live independently in a non-family household. Although we would expect young women's expanding education and labour force participation to encourage residential emancipation, it seems that economic constraints, derived from job instability, low salaries and high housing costs, restrain potential aspirations of autonomy (Tobío 2001;Golsch 2003). ...
Economic and sociological theories of marriage have long emphasized the impact of women’s education and employment on union formation. In this study, we explore the relevance of the female economic independence hypothesis to explain women’s patterns of entry into marriage and cohabitation in Portugal and Spain. In these two Southern European countries, gender equity has improved remarkably in the public sphere, but family relations remain structured along traditional gender roles. We focus on three indicators of women’s autonomy: educational attainment, employment status and having lived independently from the family of origin. The analysis is based on the Fertility and Family Surveys and discrete-time multinomial logistic regression models are used to estimate the odds of marrying, cohabiting or remaining single. The results suggest that whereas the effect of female education is consistent with the independence hypothesis, women’s labour force participation encourages union formation, particularly among younger cohorts. Living independently from the family of origin reduces the likelihood of entering marriage but increases considerably the odds of cohabiting.
... In Italy and Spain, marriage plays an important social role. Cohabitation is not as common as in other European countries, even when an increase in the proportion of cohabitations is appreciable (Sabbadini 1997; Tobio 2001). This is due to cultural factors as well as to the economic and social policies that favor marriage. ...
In this paper we investigate the interrelationships between fertility decisions and union dissolution in Italy and Spain. We argue that there might exist a spurious relationship between these two life trajectories. The analysis is based on the 1996 Fertility and Family Survey data for Italy and Spain. Results show that there is a spurious relationship between fertility and union dissolution in Italy but not in Spain. Nevertheless, in both countries, there is an evident direct effect of each process on the other: union dissolution decreases the risk of further childbearing, while childbirths decrease the risk of union dissolution.
... In brief, recent studies suggest that the low diffusion of cohabitation in Southern Europe cannot be attributed to traditional values among youths, but rather to a desire to avoid intergenerational conflict, a context of economic uncertainty, difficult access to housing and weak state support, all of which act as barriers to union formation (Tobío 2001). Since many of those barriers are related to the difficulties faced by young adults in emancipating -economically and residentially-from their family of origin, they are shared by cohabitation and marriage. ...
In Spain, nearly two-thirds of women aged 20-34 have not yet entered their first union. However, almost half of them have a stable partner in a different household. Hence, the drop in marriage rates and low prevalence of cohabitation cannot be rightly interpreted as a decline in partnership formation, but rather as a postponement of co-residential unions. This paper examines the prevalence and determinants of non-residential stable partnerships among young adults (women aged 20-34), in relation to cohabitation and marriage, using a multinomial logit model of current partnership type. The analysis is based on data from the 1999 Spanish Fertility Survey.
... (Kiernan, 2001). Younger cohorts of Spaniards are increasing delaying residential independence, with a majority remaining with their families of origin until their thirties (Tobio, 2001). For the rest of Europe, only about 20% of women between 25 and 29 marry directly (Kiernan, 2001). ...
In the early 1990s, the Irish Republic experienced a watershed in sexual morality with the introduction of legalisation on divorce, contraceptives, right to information on abortion and the decriminalisation of homosexuality. This was accompanied by decreasing family sizes and an increase in non-martial births and cohabitation. The aim of this paper is to examine Irish family practices since the instigation of this demographic transition in order to determine whether Irish family practices have become typical of European patterns. Using the European Community Household Panel for waves 1 to 7 (1994 to 2000), Irish family compositions are firstly described and compared with four other European countries: Belgium, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Secondly, a life event approach is used to clarify what factors affect marital dissolution for women in these countries such as martial duration, employment, presence of children and age at first marriage. While Irish households had larger family sizes, there were no significant differences for the risk of marital separation for Irish women relative to women in other European countries. Despite Irish demographic changes occuring much later than in other western European countries, by the turn of the 21st century, Irish family composition was similar to the rest of Europe.
During the last decades western countries have witnessed remarkable socio-demographic changes
in the family sphere: a definitive shift from extended to nuclear family forms, an intense decrease in nuptiality
rates and a strong delay on its timing, an important increase in separation and divorce rates, and the
emergence of new living arrangements such as unmarried cohabitation. These changes have raised considerable
concern among policy makers. The main purpose of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis on
nuptiality trends, marriage structures and family policies in five Mediterranean countries, namely, Italy,
France, Spain, Portugal and Greece. This paper examines recent trends in marriage structures and family
dynamics throughout Mediterranean Europe, discusses the context of those trends and considers public policy
implications. Chronological and comparative analyses are based on the most recent available Eurostat and
OECD data. These analyses shed some lights on countries’ commonalities and diversities, as observed in
marriage patterns and family policies over time.
Both the time spent in education and the age at first union have substantially increased in Italy and Spain. We show that exit from education and union formation are simultaneous processes. We use the European Community Household Panel providing standardised information. The effect of unobserved characteristics on both processes is controlled for using simultaneous hazard modelling. We find that the exit from education increases the risk of entering the first union, and that individual unobserved characteristics influence the occurrence of the two processes simultaneously. Ignoring these characteristics would overestimate the effect of exit from education on union formation.
In this article, educational homogamy among married and cohabiting couples in selected European countries is examined. Using data from two waves (2002 and 2004) of the European Social Survey, this article compares three cultural and institutional contexts that differ in terms of institutionalization of cohabitation. Evidence from log-linear models yields two main conclusions. First, as cohabitation becomes more common in society, marriage and cohabitation become more similar with respect to partner selection. Second, where married and unmarried unions differ in terms of educational homogamy, married couples have higher odds of overcoming educational barriers (i.e., intermarrying with other educational groups). (Contains 4 tables and 5 notes.)
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