Informal Unions in Mexico and the United States
Keywords
cohabitation, union formation, marriage, common law marriage
Abstract
The dramatic rise in cohabitation in the United States and other Western industrial societies signals a major shift in union formation. In many Latin American countries, however, there is a long tradition of couples living in unions without formal legal sanction. The paper compares recent trends and patterns of union formation in Mexico and the U.S. In contrast to marriage, cohabitation patterns in the U.S. and Mexico appear to have begun from different starting points. Informal unions in Mexico began with a history of informal, common law marriages. In contrast, in the U.S. cohabitation began in the late 60s and early 70s outside the mainstream on the margins of social behavior. Currently, cohabitation is more common in the U.S. than is informal marriage in Mexico, but age patterns of union formation are parallel. Higher education increases the likelihood of marriage over informal unions in each context. Informal unions are less stable in each country.
Original Publication Citation
Heaton, Tim and Renata Forste. 2007. “Informal Unions in Mexico and the United States” Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 38(1):55-69
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Heaton, Tim B. and Forste, Renata, "Informal Unions in Mexico and the United States" (2005). Faculty Publications. 2788.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/2788
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2005-9
Permanent URL
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5614
Language
English
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
Sociology