A common claim in the literature is that higher-educated persons are more likely to marry outside their ethnic/racial group than lower-educated persons. We re-examine this "educational gradient" with a multilevel analysis of 46 immigrant groups in the Current Population Survey. We find that there are positive effects not only of individual…

How do children's life course transitions affect the well-being of their parents? Using a large panel survey among parents with longitudinal information on 2 randomly chosen children, the authors analyzed the effects of children's union formation, parenthood, and union dissolution on changes in depressive symptoms of parents. Negative effects were…

The study aims to assess, first, whether there is a gap in well-being between unmarried cohabitants and the married, second, if selection factors can explain this so-called cohabitation gap, and third, if the size of the cohabitation gap differs across countries and how this can be explained. We use pooled data from young adults (18-44) in 3…

This study examines how relationship transitions affect subjective well-being (SWB) and how this effect changes over time. We used prospective data containing information about 18 years of young adults' lives (PSIN, N = 5, 514). SWB was measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Within-person multilevel regression analyses showed that dating,…

There are well-known gender differences in the form and content of extended family relationships. This paper examines how fathers and mothers differ in the support they receive from children and how this depends on whether the parents divorce, become widow(er)s, enter a new relationship, and have new children. The guiding hypothesis is that…

Using a nationally representative survey of married couples N=572 in The Netherlands, I analyze three characteristics of the contemporary western marriage ceremony: a) whether couples give a wedding party, b) whether couples have their marriage consecrated in church, and c) whether couples go away on a honeymoon. Hypotheses are developed arguing…

The tendency of members of many ethno-religious groups to marry within their group has been considered evidence for the persistent role of ascription in modern society. What is the role of the family of origin in this process? To answer this question, we study the marriage choices of Jews in the Netherlands, using a unique dataset and a novel…

Using survey data on 1,718 ever-divorced men and women in the Netherlands, the authors describe the motives people give for their divorce. The authors distinguish motives regarding three types of issues: relational issues, behavioral problems, and problems about work and the division of labor. They observe three important trends: the normalization…