Uncoupled: Experiences of Singlehood in Contemporary France.
Since the 1970s, the age at first partnership has risen, and separations have become more common. Both men's and women's lives are increasingly punctuated by partnerless periods, first in early adulthood and also later in their relationship histories. In this article, taking an life-course approach...
| Published in: | Population (1634-2941) Vol. 74; no. 1&2; pp. 101 - 126 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=137333117&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 137333117 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 16342941 46MR jtl: Population (1634-2941) issn: 16342941 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2019 vid: 74 iid: 1&2 pid: 10666 pub: Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques artinfo: ui: 137333117 10.3917/popu.1901.0103 ppf: 101 ppct: 25 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 1.2MB tig: atl: Uncoupled: Experiences of Singlehood in Contemporary France. aug: au: BERGSTRÖM, Marie COURTEL, Françoise VIVIER, Géraldine affil: Institut national d'études démographiques (INED) su: Marital relations Unmarried couples Interpersonal relations Life partners Life course approach sug: subj: Marital relations Unmarried couples Interpersonal relations Life partners Life course approach keyword: conjugality couplehood EPIC gender multi-method approach norm relationship history singlehood unpartnered conjugality couplehood EPIC gender multi-method approach norm relationship history singlehood unpartnered ab: Since the 1970s, the age at first partnership has risen, and separations have become more common. Both men's and women's lives are increasingly punctuated by partnerless periods, first in early adulthood and also later in their relationship histories. In this article, taking an life-course approach and looking at subjective experiences of singlehood, we show that it varies according to age, sex, and social background. Life without a partner seems most burdensome for people in their early 30s, while low-income women say they gain a much-appreciated independence despite their material difficulties. This diversity apart, conjugality rates are high, lifelong singlehood is rare, and couplehood is a powerful social norm that puts great pressure on men and women alike. A crossanalysis of quantitative and qualitative material from the EPIC study of individual and conjugal trajectories (Étude des parcours individuels et conjugaux, INED-INSEE, 2013-2014, France), shows that while separations are more common and forms of couplehood more varied, the social norm of being in a couple has strengthened rather than weakened over time. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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