Rethinking marital status: Partnership history and intergenerational relationships in American families

Demographic analyses have demonstrated that Americans are increasingly likely to experience multiple transitions into and out of marital and nonmarital unions. Despite this, relatively little research to date has examined how this complexity has influenced the relationships between generations within families. Utilizing data from the third wave of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), I assess the extent of partnership complexity in the United States and estimate the effect of partnership history on intergenerational relationships. Results suggest that partnership history is a more robust predictor of intergenerational solidarity than discrete marital transitions. Overall, those individuals with a history of multiple marriages and cohabiting unions have consistently lower levels of solidarity relative to those who have one marriage. The results of the study suggest that future research consider the complexity of family members’ marital and nonmarital union histories.