Union Transitions and Cohabitation among Older Adults

老年人的同居过渡和同居

• 批准号: 6945725
• 负责人: SUSAN L. BROWN
• 金额: $ 6.26万
• 依托单位: BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-15 至 2007-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6945725
• 关键词: behavioral /social science research tag; clinical research; divorce /separation; dyadic interaction; family structure /dynamics; friendships; human data; human old age (65+); marriage /marital status; psychological aspect of aging; social support network; socioeconomics

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The number of unmarried opposite-sex couples in the U.S. has increased dramatically over the past three decades, climbing from 500,000 in 1970 to over 5 million today. More than t .2 million persons ages 50 and over are involved in cohabiting relationships. However, research on cohabitation has essentially ignored older adults. This omission is problematic for at least two reasons. First, from a demographic perspective, the union statuses and histories of today's older adults are more diverse than those of previous cohorts; consequently, as they age into the later years progressively fewer older persons will be married and more will be cohabiting. Second, from a theoretical standpoint, cohabitation likely has a unique meaning and plays a different role in the life course of older (versus younger) adults. That is, the motivations for entering a cohabiting union may differ from those of young adults and thus the union patterns and dynamics of older adults may be distinct. We propose to contribute to the limited research on cohabitation among older adults by using longitudinal data from the 1998-2002 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine transitions into and out of cohabiting unions among adults over age 50. The current investigation is guided by a theoretical framework that incorporates life course and demographic perspectives on aging. We propose to answer the following three questions. Who are older cohabitors and how do they compare to older marrieds and unpartnereds? What factors predict forming a cohabiting union? What factors predict older cohabitors union transitions out of cohabitation (either through marriage or separation)? By documenting the trends and patterns of cohabitation as well as the predictors of union formation and dissolution among older adults, this project will establish the groundwork necessary to motivate a large-scale investigation of these emerging trends and their consequences for a new generation of aging adults.

描述（由申请人提供）：在过去的三十年中，美国未婚夫妇的数量急剧增加，从1970年的500,000升至今天超过500万。超过50岁及50岁以上的人参与了同居关系。但是，对同居的研究基本上忽略了老年人。至少有两个原因，这种遗漏是有问题的。首先，从人口统计学的角度来看，当今老年人的联盟地位和历史比以前的同伙更多样化。因此，随着年龄的增长，他们的年龄越来越少，而老年人将结婚，而更多的人将同居。其次，从理论的角度来看，同居可能具有独特的含义，并且在老年人（与年轻）成年人的生活过程中起着不同的作用。也就是说，进入同居联盟的动机可能与年轻人的动机不同，因此老年人的联盟模式和动态可能是不同的。我们建议通过使用1998 - 2002年健康和退休研究（HRS）的纵向数据（HRS）来研究老年人之间对同居的有限研究，以检查50岁以上成年人之间的同居工会的过渡。当前的研究以融合了生命和衰老的理论框架为指导。我们建议回答以下三个问题。谁是老年同居者，他们与年长的已婚者和未达成的人相比如何？哪些因素可以预测形成同居联盟的因素？哪些因素可以预测较老的同事工会因同居（通过婚姻或分离）而过渡？通过记录同居的趋势和模式，以及老年人之间的工会形成和解散的预测指标，该项目将建立必要的基础，以激励对这些新兴趋势及其对新一代老年人成年人的后果进行大规模研究。