The Meaning of Cohabiting Unions in the U.S.

同居婚姻在美国的意义

• 批准号: 6616520
• 负责人: PAMELA J. SMOCK
• 金额: $ 31.86万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-06-01 至 2006-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6616520
• 关键词: African American; Hispanic Americans; United States; behavioral /social science research tag; caucasian American; child rearing; clinical research; family structure /dynamics; human subject; interpersonal relations; interview; marriage /marital status; single person; young adult human (21-34)

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Unmarried heterosexual cohabitation has risen sharply in recent years in the United States. Today, the majority of marriages and remarriages begin as cohabiting relationships, most younger men and women have cohabited or will cohabit, and two-fifths of children born in the early 1990s will spend time in a cohabiting-parent family. Incorporating cohabitation into demographic studies has become crucial for evaluating union formation and dissolution, fertility, the life-course of individuals, children's well being, and the likely direction of future changes in family patterns. This project undertakes exploratory research on the meanings of cohabiting unions in the United States. Framed by symbolic interactionist and exchange theories, our project focuses on the following three issues: (1) how and why cohabiting unions begin; (2) partner and parenting roles in cohabiting unions; and (3) how and why cohabiting unions end. We collect and analyze qualitative data from focus groups and in-depth interviews with young Hispanic, African American, and white men and women, and with both partners in dating, cohabiting, and married couples, to address these questions. The importance of qualitative research on cohabitation has been recognized by the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, and by members of the family demography research community. The project is part of the research team's continuing endeavor to understand the implications of unmarried cohabitation, marriage, divorce, and childbearing in the contemporary United States among diverse populations.

描述（由申请人提供）：近年来，美国未婚异性同居现象急剧增加。如今，大多数婚姻和再婚都是以同居关系开始的，大多数年轻男女已经同居或将要同居，五分之二的 20 世纪 90 年代初出生的孩子将在同居父母家庭中度过时光。将同居纳入人口研究对于评估婚姻的形成和解散、生育能力、个人生命历程、儿童福祉以及家庭模式未来变化的可能方向至关重要。 该项目对美国同居婚姻的含义进行探索性研究。在符号互动主义和交换理论的框架下，我们的项目重点关注以下三个问题：（1）同居结合如何以及为何开始； (2) 同居关系中的伴侣和养育角色； (3) 同居关系如何以及为何结束。我们收集和分析来自焦点小组的定性数据，以及对年轻的西班牙裔、非裔美国人和白人男女以及约会、同居和已婚伴侣的深入访谈，以解决这些问题。同居定性研究的重要性已得到国家儿童健康和人类发展研究所人口和行为科学分部、联邦儿童和家庭统计机构间论坛以及家庭人口学研究界成员的认可。该项目是研究团队持续努力的一部分，旨在了解当代美国不同人群中未婚同居、结婚、离婚和生育的影响。