Union Transitions and Cohabitation among Older Adults

老年人的同居过渡和同居

• 批准号: 6809263
• 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 2006-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6809263
• 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）：在过去三十年中，美国未婚异性伴侣的数量急剧增加，从 1970 年的 50 万增加到今天的超过 500 万。超过 20 万名 50 岁及以上的人有同居关系。然而，对同居的研究基本上忽略了老年人。由于至少两个原因，这种遗漏是有问题的。首先，从人口学的角度来看，当今老年人的婚姻状况和历史比以前的群体更加多样化；因此，随着年龄的增长，结婚的老年人越来越少，同居的老年人越来越多。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（与年轻人）的生命历程中发挥着不同的作用。也就是说，进入同居婚姻的动机可能与年轻人不同，因此老年人的婚姻模式和动态可能不同。我们建议通过使用 1998-2002 年健康与退休研究 (HRS) 的纵向数据来研究 50 岁以上成年人进入和退出同居关系的转变，为有关老年人同居的有限研究做出贡献。目前的调查以一个融合了生命历程和人口老龄化观点的理论框架。我们建议回答以下三个问题。谁是年龄较大的同居者？他们与年龄较大的已婚人士和未婚人士相比如何？哪些因素预示着同居关系的形成？哪些因素可以预测年长的同居者会从同居关系中过渡（通过结婚或分居）？通过记录老年人同居的趋势和模式以及婚姻形成和解体的预测因素，该项目将为推动对这些新兴趋势及其对新一代老年人的影响进行大规模调查奠定必要的基础。 。