Relationship Quality Dynamics of Cohabiting Unions

of this manuscript. I use data from the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the duration-dependence of relationship quality for cohabitors and marrieds and to evaluate whether the presence of children or prior union experience account for or moderate the effect of duration. The present study demonstrates that despite their short length, the quality of cohabiting unions varies with time. Cohabitors experience declines in relationship interaction and happiness that are similar to those experienced by marrieds. But unlike marriages, the stability of cohabiting unions is related to duration. This unique effect is indicative of the meaning of cohabitation as well as its role in the family life course. The higher levels of instability characterizing long cohabitations probably result from unrealized marital intentions. Most cohabitors expect to marry their partners and, provided that they do so within a few years of initiating the cohabiting union, perceived instability remains low. Without a commitment to marriage, the union is likely to fail. Thus, these analyses suggest that cohabitations serving as a prelude to marriage are characterized by low levels of instability, whereas cohabitations that are not readily transforme