Page 52 - 5th APA Conference Program Book Final

Abstract

The timing of marriage has consequences for population dynamics. Hence, its significance extends beyond
substantial considerations particularly in Iran, where extensive demographic changes have caused serious concerns
at the highest political levels and imposed considerable shifts in population policy. Although preventing marriage
delay has become the cornerstone of recent policies, there is no empirical evidence to show the attitude of the
population about the timing of marriage. This paper uses data from the 2004 National Survey of Iranians’ Cultural
Changes and the 2015 National Survey of Iranians’ Values and Attitudes to investigate temporal changes in the
male and female ideal age at marriage and their social, demographic and economic correlates at the individual
level. The findings display a one-year increase in both male and female ideal age at marriage during the period of
study. This suggests that the attitude of the population about the timing of marriage has not changed in a direction
consistent with the national population policy. Furthermore, the impact of the correlates of the ideal age at marriage
is gendered and has changed over time. The success of policy interventions will depend on accounting for these
dynamics and searching for possible interplays between individual and contextual factors.

1669 Correlates of Premarital Cohabitation Experience of Married Adults in Japan

Hiroshi Kojima

Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

Categories

6. Family Formation and Dissolution, Family and Kinship

Abstract

This is an attempt to analyze correlates of premarital cohabitation experience among married men and women
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aged 20-49, drawing on the micro-data sets from the 5 and 9 Survey on Marriage and Childbearing (2009 and
2016). Even though the overall percentages of premarital cohabitation experience are similar (about 50%) in both
surveys, the definition of cohabitation is somewhat different,

After controlling for marriage cohort and region, the analysis of 2009 survey data reveals that being divorced, ages
20-24 and 25-29, wives older by 5-7 and 8-9 years and wives’ marriage age below 22 have positive effects on
premarital cohabitation experience among married men. Among married women, being divorced, ages 20-24 and
25-29 and husbands younger by 8-9 years have positive effects. The demographic correlates are largely similar in
the results for the 2016 survey while the effects of wives’ marriage age below 22 changes direction from positive to
negative. However, the effects of methods of partner search are different: acquainting through senior colleagues
or the internet have positive effects and acquainting in parities for singles have negative effects in the 2009 results;
and acquainting during leisure have positive effects and acquainting through friends have negative effects in the
2016 results.

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