Nonmarital Cohabitation: Current Knowledge and Future Directions for Research

Our intent in this paper is to: (1) synthesize knowledge about the role of economic and cultural influences on the increase in cohabitation, (2) summarize research findings about economic and cultural influences on entrances into cohabitation and “exits” out of cohabitation (e.g., breakups, marriage); and (3) recommend directions for future research and data collection. We interweave our discussion with empirical findings about subgroup (i.e., racial/ethnic and social class) variation in cohabitation patterns. To these ends, we draw on both published and unpublished (e.g., working papers, conference presentations) scholarship; some relevant research is, to date, in unpublished form.