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Italy’s Non-Negligible Cohabitational Unions

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Gabrielli

    (University of Bari)

  • Jan M. Hoem

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)

Abstract

Italy has long been regarded as the country with negligible non-marital cohabitation par excellence, but lately the pattern has begun to change and entry into consensual unions has increased strongly in younger Italian generations. This article is devoted to a study of such features between 1980 and 2003 based on the data from the Italian variant of the Gender and Generations Survey, Round 1. We consider entry into marriage and entry into cohabitation as competing risks and show how the incidence of cohabitation consistently much lower but has increased by some 70% over the 20-odd years of our study, while the marriage rate has dropped by almost as much. We find great variation across major regions of the country. The rise in cohabitation is confined to Northern and Central Italy, while the risk of marriage formation has declined strongly all over the country. Unlike previous investigations, our data suggest that non-marital cohabitation may be taking over whatever minor role civil marriage has had in Italian union formation.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:26:y:2010:i:1:d:10.1007_s10680-009-9193-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-009-9193-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paola Di Giulio & Alessandro Rosina, 2007. "Intergenerational family ties and the diffusion of cohabitation in Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 16(14), pages 441-468.
    2. Jan M. Hoem & Dora Kostova & Aiva Jasilioniene & Cornelia Mureşan, 2009. "The structure of recent first-union formation in Romania," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-002, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. 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.
    4. Maria Castiglioni & Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna, 2009. "Marital and Reproductive Behavior in Italy After 1995: Bridging the Gap with Western Europe?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 1-26, February.
    5. Jan M. Hoem & Dora Kostova & Aiva Jasilioniene & Cornelia Mureşan, 2009. "Traces of the Second Demographic Transition in Four Selected Countries in Central and Eastern Europe: Union Formation as a Demographic Manifestation," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 25(3), pages 239-255, August.
    6. Alessandro Rosina & Romina Fraboni, 2004. "Is marriage losing its centrality in Italy?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 11(6), pages 149-172.
    7. repec:cai:poeine:pope_402_0263 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Tomáš Sobotka, 2008. "Overview Chapter 6: The diverse faces of the Second Demographic Transition in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(8), pages 171-224.
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    Cited by:

    1. Maria Winkler-Dworak & Eva Beaujouan & Paola Di Giulio & Martin Spielauer, 2019. "Simulating Family Life Courses: An Application for Italy, Great Britain, and Scandinavia," VID Working Papers 1908, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    2. 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.

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