The authors (all, Institute for Social Research, Univ. of Michigan) present a comprehensive analysis of factors influencing the decisions of young Americans to cohabit or to marry, and the transformation or not of cohabiting unions into marriage. The factors they analyze are quite numerous, including parental factors of various sorts, courtship processes, the influence of religious and other attitudes and values, and the role of education, earnings, and career. The primary data derive from the large-scale "Intergenerational Panel Study of Parents and Children" (in the Russell Sage Foundation publication Looking at Lives: American Longitudinal Studies of the Twentieth Century, CH, Apr'03, 40-4686), which the authors subject to wide-ranging and sophisticated statistical analysis. In addition, they survey many other studies of marriage and cohabitation, and devote a chapter to the history of marriage in the Western world. Although the authors' conclusions are too complex to summarize here, what is noteworthy is the importance of intergenerational factors in people's decisions on cohabitation and marriage. This book is an important scholarly contribution to understanding marriage and family in the US, with many interesting insights and interpretations concerning the growing phenomenon of premarital cohabitation in US society. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. Upper-division Undergraduates; Graduate Students; Researchers/Faculty; Professionals/Practitioners. Reviewed by J. Stauder. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Yu Xie is the Otis Dudley Duncan Professor of Sociology and Statistics at the University of Michigan and a research professor at the Institute for Social Research (ISR). Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Acknowledgments	vii
I Historical and Conceptual Issues	1
Chapter 1 Introduction	3
Chapter 2 Historical Perspectives on Marriage	24
Chapter 3 Comparing Marriage, Cohabitation, and Being Single	76
Chapter 4 Entering Marital and Cohabiting Unions	92
II Parental Factors during Childhood and Adolescence	113
Chapter 5 Influence of Parental Youth Factors before Birth of Study Child	115
Chapter 6 Influence of Parental Factors during Childhood and Adolescence of the Children	155
III Parent and Child Factors during the Children's Young Adulthood	181
Chapter 7 The Courtship Process and Union Formation	183
Chapter 8 Religious Affiliation and Commitment	210
Chapter 9 The Influence of Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs	225
Chapter 10 Educational Influences	265
Chapter 11 Work, Earnings Potential, and Career Aspiration	286
IV Integration and Summary of Effects	303
Chapter 12 Conclusions	305
Appendix A Technical Explanation of Estimation of Total, Direct, and Indirect Effects	333
Appendix B Conceptualizing and Estimating Union Formation Rates	352
Appendix C Description of Measures Used in Chapters 5 through 11	356
Appendix D Constructing Measures of Earnings Potential for Use in Chapter 11	369
Notes	373
Bibliography	391
Index	429

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