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Article
Military Service, Race, and the Transition to Marriage and Cohabitation
Journal of Family Issues (2009)
  • Jay Teachman, Western Washington University
Abstract
Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth, the author investigates the relationship between military service and the transition to the first intimate union. The author argues that active-duty military service promotes marriage over cohabitation. The results are consistent with this argument, showing that active-duty members of the military are much more likely to choose marriage over cohabitation compared to reserve-duty service members, veterans, and comparable civilians. These results are particularly strong for Black men, indicating a possible relationship between working in a largely race-neutral environment and the choice of first intimate union.
Keywords
  • Military service,
  • Marriage,
  • Cohabitation,
  • Race
Disciplines
Publication Date
October, 2009
Publisher Statement
Published by Sage Journals Published online before print May 7, 2009 DOI: 10.1177/0192513X09336338
Citation Information
Jay Teachman. "Military Service, Race, and the Transition to Marriage and Cohabitation" Journal of Family Issues Vol. 30 Iss. 10 (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jay_teachman/21/