Partnership forms in Europe: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Marriage and cohabitation are the two most common forms of partnership in Europe. We examined the extent to which marriage and cohabitation are studied from a demographic perspective and to identify differences across European countries. The methodology was established on a keyword search and four phases of preference indicator, based on which we selected 85 articles and incorporate them into the literature review. As determined by the literature review, we identified seven areas: Cohabitation, Marriage, Union Formation, Migrants Partnership Behavior, Fertility, Divorce, and Second Demographic Transition. The influence of society plays a significant role in forming the attitudes and aspirations of individuals in each area of life, and for some, even in the most important, which is starting a family and getting married or not, and on the other hand, in individual aspirations and modern lifestyles.