Serial Cohabitation: Gender, Class and Shacking Up

SMSU Event Center BC

Perspectives and patterns of cohabitation have changed recently. More couples are cohabitating now compared to the past. Thus, cohabitation has become a normative and widespread behavior among modern couples. As a result, extensive research has been done on cohabitation as well as the factors that influence cohabitation. Social scientists have recently noticed a new avenue of cohabitation that has not been studied much. This is known as serial cohabitation. Serial cohabitation is the process of dissolving one cohabitating relationship and jumping immediately into another. The previous studies on cohabitation have not shed much light on this issue as well as what factors influence people to serially cohabitate. The current studies on serial cohabitation are limited and do not provide detailed data on explaining this phenomenon. This research will utilize mixed methods to measure serial cohabitation and the factors influencing it. MIcUsing online surveys, the quantitative portion of the study will examine the relationship between serial cohabitation and income and gender. The main hypothesis is tested in this study is: women with lower income are less likely to engage in serial cohabitation compared to their counterparts. This study will use in-depth interviews of serial cohabitating women to explore how they navigate love and living arrangements.