{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T15:20:05Z","timestamp":1791904805519,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":83,"publisher":"Duke University Press","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2004,5,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>In this article, we use data from a new longitudinal survey\u2014the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study\u2014to examine union formation among unmarried parents who have just had a child together. We used multinomial logistic regression to estimate the effects of economic, cultural\/interpersonal, and other factors on whether (relative to having no romantic relationship) parents are romantically involved and living apart, cohabiting, or married to each other about one year after the child\u2019s birth. Net of other factors (including baseline relationship status), women\u2019s education and men\u2019s earnings encourage marriage. Cultural and interpersonal factors also have strong effects: women\u2019s trust of men, both parents\u2019 positive attitudes toward marriage, and both parents\u2019 assessment of the supportiveness in their relationship encourage marriage. Supportiveness also encourages cohabitation, while fathers having a problem with alcohol or drugs and reporting higher conflict in the relationship discourage cohabitation. Fathers\u2019 physical violence deters couples\u2019 remaining in romantic nonresident relationships.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1353\/dem.2004.0012","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2005,5,3]],"date-time":"2005-05-03T19:01:18Z","timestamp":1115146878000},"page":"237-261","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":341,"title":["Union formation in fragile families"],"prefix":"10.1215","volume":"41","author":[{"given":"Marcia","family":"Carlson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Assistant Professor of Social Work and Sociology, Columbia University, School of Social Work, 622 West 113th Street, New York, NY 10025"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"McLanahan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paula","family":"England","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Professor of 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