Exploiting the high degree of comparability between the retrospectively
collected data from FFSs, this paper analyses the process of the
diffusion of cohabitation in six European institutional contexts.
It discusses the impact of the diffusion of cohabitation upon fundamental
changes in the process of family formation in Sweden, France, West and
East Germany, Spain and Italy. The analyses make use of highly dynamic
statistical modelling that take into account both changes occurring
along individuals’ life course (individual biography) and across birth
cohorts (generational change) in a comparative perspective. Results show
that the level of practice with pre-marital cohabitation has grown
unevenly across European countries in the last decades, and that
differences are likely to persist in the take up of this new practice.
Empirical evidence is also offered, which supports the hypothesis that a
diffusion process of this new practice is underway, and that the
mechanism driving the change is linked more to peer-examples than
to intergenerational transmission in an early stage of the process.
Presented by:
Tiziana Nazio (Nuffield College, University of Oxford)
Date & time:
May 15, 2006 3:00 pm - May 14, 2006 11:00 pm
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