Date: 2019-01-25 03:30 PM – 04:30 PM
Last modified: 2018-12-27
Abstract
Family background shapes young adults’ decisions in their transition to adulthood, and the outcomes of these decisions lay the foundation for their subsequent life course. This study examines how parents’ education and social class influence their children’s union formation and parenthood formation. I examine the timing of entry into a first union (a married or a cohabiting union), the choice between marriage and cohabitation, the timing of entry into parenthood and the choice between a non-marital and a marital first birth. The analytical sample (N=35,880) is drawn from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (Understanding Society) with respondents being born between 1930 and 1980, to examine not only the effect of children’s background on union formation and parenthood but also whether this effect changes over birth cohorts, periods, and the life course, and varies by gender.