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Title: Consensual Unions in Central America: Historical Continuities and New Emerging Patterns

Citation Type: Book, Section

Publication Year: 2016

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Abstract: Central America has a long history of family formation via consensual union instead of formal marriage. The historically high levels of cohabitation have persisted throughout the twentieth century up to the present day and can be traced in the remarkably high levels of nonmarital childbearing in the region. This chapter reviews past and recent trends in the prevalence of consensual unions in six Central American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama in order to ascertain whether cohabitation has reached an upper ceiling in the region and whether the apparent stability at the aggregate level conceals significant changes in cohabiting patterns across social groups. The analyses reveal that the expansion of cohabitation has not come to an end so far, largely because of the recent increase in consensual unions among the higher educated strata. The historically negative educational gradient of cohabitation remains largely in place, but differentials in union patterns across countries and across social groups have narrowed considerably in the past two decades.

Url: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-31442-6_6/fulltext.html

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Authors: Castro-Martin, Teresa; Dominguez-Rodriguez, Antia

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Pages: 157-185

Volume Title: Cohabitation and Marriage in the Americas: Geo-historical Legacies and New Trends

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Publisher Location: Switzerland

Volume: 1

Edition: 1

Data Collections: IPUMS International, IPUMS Health Surveys - NHIS

Topics: Family and Marriage, Gender, Housing and Segregation

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