Selection Effects among Recent Cohorts of Cohabiting Women

Kimberly A. Daniels, University of Texas at Austin

One response to the increase in cohabitation has been to examine whether cohabitors are selective on certain characteristics. In the United States, research suggests that cohabitation is selective of less religious, more liberal individuals as well as those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The majority of research on selection into cohabitation is based on data that are now over twenty years old. During this time cohabitation has increased in prevalence and research suggests that as the prevalence of a behavior increases selection decreases. Using data from the 1995 and 2002 cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth, this research examines attitude based selection of cohabitors. The first step examines self selection into cohabitation. The second step looks at potential selection effects based on fertility intentions of cohabitors to examine if those cohabitors seeking a pregnancy evince more liberal attitudes