This study investigates the implications for union stability of different methods for providing access to income in cohabiting and marital unions among mainland Puerto Ricans. Using the Puerto Rican Maternal and Infant Health Study (N= 836), we show that union dissolution is associated with both union type and type of method. The relatively high…

Examined meaning of informal unions among mainland Puerto Rican women. Compared characteristics of women in informal unions to those of single and married women; assessed whether Puerto Rican women defined their informal unions as nonmarital cohabitation or form of marriage; and examined predictors of women's definitions of informal unions. Found…

The rise of cohabitation and the growing share of births to cohabiting couples have led to speculation that the boundary between marriage and cohabitation is blurring. Examines this issue with an analysis of the financial arrangements of fathers of mainland Puerto Rican children. Reveals that married fathers are more likely than cohabiting fathers…

Data from 2,033 mainland Puerto Rican women revealed that growing proportion of Puerto Rican children were born outside of formal/informal coresidential unions. Among children born into intact unions, increasing proportion are offspring of informal unions. Puerto Rican children face high risks of family disruption during childhood. (Author/NB)

Life history data from both origin and destination areas were used to examine the relationship between migration and fertility among Puerto Rican women. Migration to the U.S. mainland had opposite effects on childbearing for single versus married or cohabiting women. For all migrants, migration played an integral part in the family formation…

Analysis of data from the Puerto Rican Maternal and Infant Health Study found that recent migrants to the U.S. mainland experienced fewer stressful life events and engaged in fewer negative health behaviors during pregnancy than U.S.-born Puerto Rican women. Recent migrants also exhibited better infant health outcomes than childhood migrants or…

Analysis of survey data on over 2,700 Puerto Rican mothers and infants living in the mainland United States examined the behavior of nonresident, cohabiting, and married fathers in terms of both financial contributions and participation in child care. The results highlight the critical role of employment in father's involvement. (Contains 42…