Fenaba Addo - University of Wisconsin
“Playing house": Financial Integration and Relationship Transitions among Current Cohabitors
Date: 04/17/2014 (Thu)
Time: 3:30pm- 5:00pm
Location: Seminar will be held on-site: Gross Hall - 270
Organizer: Sandy Darity
Meeting Schedule: Login or email the organizer to schedule a meeting.
All meetings will be held in the same location as the seminar unless otherwise noted.
8:30am - Seth Sanders
9:30am - OPEN
10:00am - OPEN
10:30am - Joseph Lariscy
11:00am - Sandy Darity, Sanford 238
11:30am - Poh Lin Tan (Student)
12:00pm - Lunch - Trenita Childers, Robert Reece (Students)
1:15pm - Open for Students
1:45pm - OPEN
2:00pm - Kelly Brownell, 124 Sanford
2:45pm - Giovanna Merli
3:15pm - Prepare for seminar
3:30pm - Seminar Presentation (3:30pm to 5:00pm)
6:00pm - Thai Cafe
Additional Comments:
ABSTRACT: Radical changes in the nature of romantic relationships are reflected in the decoupling of what were once considered “marital behaviors” from the institution of marriage. Cohabitors can engage in many of the same experiences of shared living, such as economies of scale, risk pooling, production of relationship-specific capital, and joint consumption, without marrying. This study examines whether financial attributes of shared living are associated with transitions to marriage or separation among current cohabitors. Using a sample of cohabitors interviewed over the two most recent waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 Young Adult study (N=692), I will discuss varying degrees of financial integration as measures of structural relationship constraint commitments (Stanley & Markman 1992). Studying joint financial practices offers us the opportunity to examine the demographic and relationship characteristics of those who choose to take on commitments and how the various forms of joint financial practices may be associated with relationship outcomes. I find that cohabitors who engaged in progressive practices, such as having joint credit cards with their partner, have an increased probability of union dissolution, whereas those who practiced investment strategies, e.g. sharing a mortgage, had an increased odds of marriage. This study sheds light on the heterogeneous ways that a recent cohort of young couples manages their finances and insight into the sort of scaffolding couples build around their relationships.