Does Cohabitation Lead to Weaker Intergenerational Bonds Than Marriage? A Comparison Between Italy and the United Kingdom

In the literature, cohabitation rather than marriage is presented as an indicator of weakening intergenerational ties—either as a cause or as an effect. In this article, we compare two countries (Italy and the United Kingdom) with very different incidences of cohabitation as an alternative or as a prelude to marriage, the frequency of face-to-face and telephone contacts between parents and their married or cohabiting unmarried children. Our analysis of empirical evidence, based on a multilevel, ordered category response model, does not support previous findings that cohabitation instead of marriage weakens intergenerational ties. No differences in parent–adult child contact between cohabiting and married individuals were found in the United Kingdom and only to a very limited extent in Italy. In the latter country, some support for the hypothesis that cohabiting individuals are (still) a selected group of people has been found.