Volume 45 - Article 32 | Pages 973–1010  

Socioeconomic preconditions to union formation: Exploring variation by migrant background

By Layla Van den Berg, Jonas Wood, Karel Neels

Abstract

Background: The relationship between socioeconomic position and union formation has frequently been studied in majority populations. Despite the growing importance of minority groups in European populations and their often different patterns of union formation and labour market positions, variation in the socioeconomic preconditions for union formation by migrant background has hitherto received less attention.

Methods: Using longitudinal microdata from the Belgian Social Security registers, this paper studies whether the link between activity status and income on the one hand and coresidential union formation on the other differs between young adults of Belgian origin and second-generation migrants of Southern European, Maghrebi, and Turkish origin.

Results: Whereas socioeconomic preconditions for union formation are largely similar among men across origin groups, we find that second generation women of Turkish and Maghrebi origin are more likely to enter into a coresidential union from vulnerable or uncertain socioeconomic positions such as inactivity and unemployment compared to women of Belgian and Southern European origin.

Contribution: This study finds that the socioeconomic preconditions of coresidential union formation found among majority populations cannot be generalised to all population subgroups. Our results indicate that the extent to which population subgroups occupy a precarious socioeconomic position may impact how and to what extent decisions in other life domains depend on one’s socioeconomic position.

Author’s Affiliation

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Ready for parenthood? Dual earners' relative labour market positions and entry into parenthood in Belgium
Volume 42 - Article 33

Co-ethnic marriage versus intermarriage among immigrants and their descendants: A comparison across seven European countries using event-history analysis
Volume 39 - Article 17

Quality of demographic data in GGS Wave 1
Volume 32 - Article 24

The educational gradient of childlessness and cohort parity progression in 14 low fertility countries
Volume 31 - Article 46

Endogamy and relationship dissolution: Does unmarried cohabitation matter?
Volume 47 - Article 17

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Demographic convergence in marriage timing: Intersecting gender and educational expansion
Volume 52 - Article 14    | Keywords: age at marriage, convergence, cross-country, education, gender, union formation

The changing inter-relationship between partnership dynamics and fertility trends in Europe and the United States: A review
Volume 52 - Article 7    | Keywords: childbearing, Europe, family complexity, fertility, fertility, marriage, partnership, United States of America

Unmarried motherhood and infant health: The role of intimate partner violence in Colombia
Volume 52 - Article 6    | Keywords: cohabitation, Colombia, infant health, intimate partner violence, low birthweight, partnership status

Left behind single in the partnering market? Entry into cohabiting unions by women and men with low educational attainment across regions of Europe, cohorts 1960 to 1985
Volume 51 - Article 43    | Keywords: cohabitation, education, Europe, European Social Survey, event history analysis, logistic regression, marginalization, partner selection, singlehood, union formation

A multidimensional global migration model for use in cohort-component population projections
Volume 51 - Article 11    | Keywords: age dependency, education, international migration, migration, modelling, population projection, projections