Fertility Intentions Following Marital Dissolution: Does Postmarital Union Status Matter?

Jessica A. Cohen, Bowling Green State University

Marriage and childbearing have transformed dramatically within the last several decades. An increasing number of adults live with a partner before marriage, divorce, cohabit with another partner, and having children outside remarriage. Such trends confirm that many individuals will transition into and out of, and bear children within, several different types of unions throughout the life course. The acceptability of nonmarital cohabitation and childbearing has extended the complexity of the family formation process into older adulthood's postmarital stage of the life course. Considering this complexity, I draw on the life course perspective to explore whether and how previously married, cohabiting women's fertility intentions differ from their remarried counterparts. I expect that previously married cohabiting women will have lower fertility intentions than remarried women. The results of this study will broaden researchers' knowledge of postmarital childbearing, and further our understanding of cohabitation's role in the childbearing process.