UC Irvine

Modern marriage has been characterized as a “greedy institution” where couples disengage from their social networks and community to devote their undivided attention to each other. I compare the co-presence patterns, that is, who people surround themselves with and how much time is spent with them, of cohabiters and married individuals to determine whether marriage is a uniquely “greedy institution” or whether co-residential romantic relationships lead to similar social worlds. I also compare divorcees and never-married individuals to determine whether experiencing marital dissolution influences the time that is allocated to others. Pooling data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) from 2003 to 2013, this study finds little differences in how cohabiters and married persons manage their relationships outside of their own union. Although cohabitation may be no less “greedy” of social ties than marriage, cohabiting couples spend more time alone together than marital couples. Divorcees and persons who have yet to marry also have similar social worlds. Household composition and demographic characteristics play a large role in the differences in time allocation. The findings suggest that marriage is no “greedier” than informal co-residential unions, and social networks appear to recover post-marriage.