Inclou bibliografia i índex.

I. Historical and conceptual issues : Introduction -- Historical perspectives on marriage -- Comparing marriage, cohabitation, and being single -- Entering marital and cohabiting unions -- II. Parental factors during childhood and adolescence : Influence of parental youth factors before birth of study child -- Influence of parental factors during childhood and adolescence of the children -- III. Parental and child factors during the children's young adulthood : The courtship process and union formation -- Religious affiliation and commitment -- The influence of attitudes, values, and beliefs -- Educational influences -- Work, earnings potential, and career aspiration -- IV. Integration and summary of effects : Conclusions -- Appendix: A. Technical explanation of estimation of total, direct, and indirect effects ; B. Conceptualization and estimating union formation rates ; C. Description of measures used in chapters 5 through 11 ; D. Constructing measures of earnings potential for use in chapter 11.

Situating their argument in the context of the Western world's five-hundred-year history of marriage, the authors of this work reveal what factors encourage marriage and cohabitation in a contemporary society where marriage and the relationships between women and men have changed dramatically. While many people still choose to marry without first cohabiting, others elect to cohabit with varying degrees of commitment or intentions of eventual marriage. The authors' controversial findings suggest that family history, religious affiliation, values, projected education, lifetime earnings, and career aspirations all tip the scales in favor of either cohabitation or marriage. This book lends new insight into young adult relationship patterns and will be of interest to sociologists, historians, and demographers alike.