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Is Poland really 'immune' to the spread of cohabitation?

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  • Anna Matysiak

    (Uniwersytet Warszawski)

Abstract

Various data have constantly pointed out a low incidence of non-marital unions in Poland (at 1.4-4.9% among all unions). In this paper we demonstrate that these data, coming exclusively from cross-sectional surveys, clearly underestimate the scale of the phenomenon. By exploiting data on partnership histories we show that young Poles have increasingly opted for cohabitation. Consequently, in the years 2004-2006, entries to cohabitation constituted about one third of all first union entries. Consensual unions have traditionally been seen as being more widespread among the lower social strata, but a clear increase in cohabitation has been also been recently observed among groups with higher levels of educational attainment. Although the estimates of cohabitation incidence are far below those observed in Northern and Western Europe, our study suggests that Poland is not as ‘immune’ to the spread of consensual unions as it is commonly believed.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Matysiak, 2009. "Is Poland really 'immune' to the spread of cohabitation?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 21(8), pages 215-234.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:21:y:2009:i:8
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2009.21.8
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Matysiak & Daniele Vignoli, 2013. "Diverse Effects of Women’s Employment on Fertility: Insights From Italy and Poland," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 273-302, August.
    2. Anna Baranowska-Rataj, 2014. "What Would Your Parents Say? The Impact of Cohabitation Among Young People on Their Relationships with Their Parents," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1313-1332, December.
    3. Jan M. Hoem & Giuseppe Gabrielli & Aiva Jasilioniene & Dora Kostova & Anna Matysiak, 2010. "Levels of recent union formation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 22(9), pages 199-210.
    4. Marta Styrc & Anna Matysiak, 2012. "Women’s employment and marital stability: the role of the context," Working Papers 52, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    5. Brienna Perelli-Harris, 2014. "How Similar are Cohabiting and Married Parents? Second Conception Risks by Union Type in the United States and Across Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 30(4), pages 437-464, November.
    6. Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Monika Mynarska & Daniele Vignoli, 2014. "A Dirty Look From The Neighbors. Does Living In A Religious Neighborhood Prevent Cohabitation?," Working Papers 71, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    7. Ekaterina Mitrofanova & Alyona Artamonova, 2016. "The perspectives of family policy in Russia amid increasing cohabitation," European Journal of Government and Economics, Europa Grande, vol. 5(1), pages 47-63, June.
    8. Alessandra Trimarchi & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Pathways to marital and non-marital first birth: the role of his and her education," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 15(1), pages 143-179.
    9. Anna Matysiak & Daniele Vignoli, 2011. "Different women’s employment and fertility behaviours in similar institutional settings: Evidence from Italy and Poland," Working Papers 41, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    10. Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Elena Pirani, 2013. "Will they turn back on you? The relations between young co habiting people and their parents," Working Papers 63, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    11. Monika Mynarska & Anna Matysiak, 2010. "Diffusion of cohabitation in Poland," Working Papers 19, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    12. Anna Baranowska-Rataj, 2012. "What would your parents say? The impact of cohabitation on intergenerational relations in traditional societies," Working Papers 50, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    13. Monika Mynarska & Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Anna Matysiak, 2014. "Free to stay, free to leave: Insights from Poland into the meaning of cohabitation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(36), pages 1107-1136.
    14. Giuseppe Gabrielli & Jan M. Hoem, 2010. "Italy’s Non-Negligible Cohabitational Unions," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 33-46, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    cohabitation; Poland; union formation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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