Midis de la recherche

03 mars 2020

12h45-13h45

Louvain-la-Neuve

Leclercq 82

Zuzana Zilincikova
(DEMO/UCLouvain)

Cohabitation breakup: mapping of the phenomenon and its consequences across European countries

Unmarried cohabitation has become a common experience for most of the European population. At the same time, cohabitations are relatively short-lived and many of the cohabiting couples break up. The knowledge about the occurrence and consequences of cohabitation breakup is relatively scarce, especially in the European context. The aim of this thesis first, to map the dissolutions of cohabitating unions across European countries; and second, to research the consequences of cohabitation breakup. Special attention is paid to the new partnership formations, living arrangements and father-child relations following the union dissolution. The results of this dissertation thesis confirm that cohabitation is a less stable union than marriage, and this is regardless of a child presence. On the other hand, the consequences of cohabitation dissolution largely resemble the consequences of marital dissolution. Particularly, the living arrangements and father-child relations seem to be very similar for former cohabiting and married individuals.