Still believe it? An analysis of partnership trajectories after first union dissolution in Italy

Abstract

We examine the patterns of partnership behaviour following first union dissolution analysing the individual union histories from the Survey “Families, Social Subjects and Life Cycle”, carried out by Istat in 2016. The aim of the work is to analyse the frequency and characteristics of re-partnering, and to explore the role of LAT (Living Apart Together) as an alternative for those who form a new union without cohabitation. The Risk of entering a second union by time elapsed since first union dissolution has been estimated with a Cox proportional-hazards model. Then, we selected individuals who entered a second union and applied multivariate logistic models to analyse factors associated with the likelihood to enter a certain partnership form (marriage, informal cohabitation, or LAT) rather than another. More than one third of those who dissolved the first union engaged in a new partnership. Male partners, living in the North, with low-medium level of education, with no children and exiting from a first consensual union show the highest risk to form a new union. LAT proves to be an alternative to a new cohabiting union (marriage or informal). The odds of choosing this new form of union increase with the younger birth-cohort, those with children and with strong family support. Among those who enter a second cohabiting union, marriage is generally chosen by the already married and informal partnership among those who experienced the same living arrangement.