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The objective of this paper is to identify the incentives and barriers to marriage among cohabiting women, especially disadvantaged mothers who are targets of welfare reform. We use the newly released cohabitation data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979-2000), which tracks the partners of cohabiting women across survey waves. Our results support several conclusions. First, cohabiting unions are short-lived--about one-half end within one year, and over 90% end by the fifth year. Unlike most previous research, our results show that most cohabiting unions end by dissolution of the relationship rather than by marriage. Second, transitions to marriage are especially unlikely among poor women; less than one-third marry within five years. Cohabitation among poor women is more likely than that among nonpoor women to be a long-term alternative or substitute for traditional marriage. Third, our multinomial analysis of transitions from cohabitation into marriage or dissolution highlights the salience of economically disadvantaged family backgrounds, cohabitation and fertility histories, women's economic resources, and partner characteristics. These results are interpreted in a policy environment that increasingly views marriage as an economic panacea for low-income women and their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a paper that examines the economic costs of separation and divorce for young women in the United States from the late 1960s through the late 1980s. Family patterns have changed dramatically since 1960s. Broadened opportunities for women outside marriage have alleviated some of the severe economic costs of marital disruption for women. To understand these factors, the experiences of following two categories of young women have been compared and contrasted: one, those women who married and separated or divorced in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s and second, those who experienced these events in the 1980s. Analysis of the data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979-1988, Young Women 1968-1978, and Young Men 1966-1978, shows that young women in the second category have more labor force experience before disruption than those in the first category, but prior work history does not protect women from the severe costs of marital disruption.