Time with a Partner: Differences Between Married and Cohabiting Couples

Cohabitating unions have become increasingly common in American society as has parenthood among cohabiting couples. Several studies have considered differences in the quality and nature of married and cohabiting relationships with much evidence showing that cohabitors have lower relationship quality than married individuals. Extending this literature in light of recent evidence that marriage and cohabitation exert similar effects on individual well-being, we use the American Time Use Survey (2003-2014) to investigate whether married and cohabiting individuals differ in the time they spend with a partner, variation by parenthood, and the effects of shared time on well-being. Preliminary findings indicate that among non-parents married individuals spend more time with a spouse than cohabiting individuals. While married parents spend more time together overall than cohabiting parents, cohabiters spend more time alone together and less time with a partner and children. Next steps will leverage unique new data to examine differences in well-being.