Better Parents, More Stable Partners: Union Transitions among Cohabiting Parents

Fragile Families data (n = 1,702 couples) are employed to examine the association between mother and father reported parenting characteristics (father involvement and coparenting) and transitions out of cohabitation through marriage or separation in the five years after a child is born. Father involvement and coparenting may be signs of commitment and investment among couples without the legal bonds of marriage. Both father involvement and coparenting are associated with a decreased likelihood of separation, although neither is associated with greater odds of marriage. These results suggest that higher levels of father involvement and a positive coparenting relationship may keep couples together, which allows children to spend their early years with both biological parents in the household.