From Zero to Sixty in Four Decades but the Same Time to the Finish Line: Change and Stability in the Type and Timing of First Partnership Across Canadian Cohorts

Poster Presentation Trends in the median age at marriage have been well documented, yet very little is known about median age at first cohabitation, especially among recent cohorts in Canada. Using the 2011 Canadian GSS, I document changes across birth cohorts in the type of first union Canadians form and assess whether increases in cohabitation have offset declines in marriage in Canada. I also examine regional and educational differences in the propensity of Canadians to marry or cohabit with their first partner and how these differences have changed over 50 years. Finally, I examine age at first union formation, at first marriage, and at first cohabitation to determine if the trend of delaying marriage extends to all types of partnerships in Canada. I find that the share of first unions that were formed through marriage has declined across cohorts in Canada, and that for Canadians born after 1970, cohabitation is the modal way to enter conjugal life. This trend towards cohabitation as first union has been more intense in Quebec than in the rest of Canada. Regional differences in prevalence of cohabitation as first union increased for Canadians born between 1930 and 1969, but the gap in cohabitation between Quebec and the rest of Canada has narrowed for the most recent cohort. Educational differences in the type of first union Canadians form are less dramatic than differences found in the U.S., and have changed across cohorts. Finally, I find that Canadians born in the 1970s have delayed their first marriage by nearly a decade compared to those born in the 1930s, but age at first union, whether marriage or cohabitation, has only increased by 2.5 years during the same time span. How Canadians form their first unions has changed dramatically, but when they form these unions has remained remarkably stable