Marriage, Cohabitation, and Singlehood in Population Perspective

Course description

Marriage, cohabitation, and singlehood are interconnected demographic processes that shape population structure, fertility, and social inequality. While traditional demography has focused primarily on issues related to fertility and marriage, other forms of partnerships and singlehood have often been studied in other disciplines, even as they dominate public and policy debates on family life. This course provides a holistic population perspective on union formation and singlehood, integrating demographic and sociological theories, empirical evidence, and critical review of methodological challenges and opportunities. Students will learn to analyze patterns of partnerships and singlehood, interpret trends over time and across contexts, and understand how these personal behaviors shape and are shaped by broader social changes, fostering a critical understanding of family and population change.

Content

Theoretical frameworks for studying population change related to marriage, cohabitation, and singlehood
Patterns and trends in marriage, cohabitation, and long-term singlehood, and their socioeconomic drivers
Demographic data sources: surveys, censuses, administrative records, longitudinal data, and retrospective histories
Methods for analyzing union formation, dissolution, and singlehood
Connections between partnership behaviors, fertility, aging, and social inequality

Learning Highlights

Participants will understand union formation and singlehood as interrelated demographic processes, and then apply demographic methods to study partnerships and singlehood using real data. Moreover, they will interpret population-level trends and assess cross-country and life-course differences. In addition, participants will connect individual behaviors to broader demographic outcomes, including fertility, aging, and inequality. Finally, they will critically engage with public and academic debates on dating, partnership, and family change.

Target audience

This course will be useful to undergraduate, Master, and PhD students in demography and related social sciences such as sociology, economics, political science, psychology, and family studies. The course will also benefit researchers, policy analysts, and journalists interested in population-level perspectives on partnership, singlehood, and family dynamics.

Required training or equipment

Basic knowledge of demographic and statistical concepts is recommended. Familiarity with demographic data is helpful but not required.

Participants should bring a laptop with statistical software (R, Stata) for hands-on sessions.

Lecturer

Ariane Ophir

Ariane is a social demographer interested in gender inequality and population dynamics. She is also the principal investigator of the ERC Starting Grant project ‘SINGLE: Understanding the Demography and Stratification of Singlehood in Europe’.

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