Does waiting pay off for couples? Partnership duration prior to household formation and union stability

This article investigates the timing of household formation in a couple's history, the impact of such timing on dissolution behavior, and how household formation and dissolution differ for first and higher-order partnerships. Using data based on 15,081 partnerships from the German Family Panel, cumulative incidence curves reveal the dynamic of the non-coresidential partnership episode. For the sample of coresidential unions, piecewise constant survival models with a person-specific frailty term are estimated in order to assess the influence of household formation timing on union stability. Partnership arrangements with partners living in separate households are transitory in nature and may result in either household formation or separation. First partnerships transform into coresidential unions less often and later than higher-order partnerships. Union stability is positively related to the duration of the preceding non-coresidential period. Especially among unions with a non-coresidential period of 7 months to 24 months, first partnerships have lower dissolution risks than higher-order partnerships.