This article explores the complexity of family trajectories – namely partnership and childbearing events – from age 18 to 40 and investigates whether and how personal trajectories have become more complex by cohort in the United Kingdom. Using the British survey Understanding Society, we explore the diversity of men’s family trajectories ranging from parenthood in intact couples, to multiple-partner fertility and stepfamily formation.

We’ll describe the patterns of parenthood and union formation of men using sequence analysis in order to assess the existence of increasing complexity of these trajectories within the whole group of men and by educational groups.