The French “Study of Individual and Conjugal Trajectories” Survey (2013)

This paper presents the new survey on couple formation in France. It was conducted by the National Institute for Demographic Studies and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in 2013 on a representative sample of 8000 persons aged 25-64.  Focusing specifically on the couple formation process, the survey will be used to study couples formed from the early 1970s up to today. It follows on from two previous studies on couple formation. The first took place in the late 1950s and concerned persons who married in or after 1914. The second, in the 1980s, focused on persons who were married or in a consensual union. The economic, legal and social context has changed dramatically since these first surveys were conducted: fewer people are in couple relationships, time spent in education has increased, more women are in employment, divorce is more common, and new forms of union – including the PACS civil partnership – have emerged, along with new ways of finding a partner, such as online dating for example.

The new study aims to update our knowledge about the lives of people with a partner, in a family or living alone, from youth to old age. We will use the initial findings of the “Study of Individuals and Conjugal Trajectories” to show how this new survey will shed light on continuity and change in couple formation and living arrangements, and also reveal how attitudes to couple relationships have evolved by age and by cohort. In this way, we would like to promote future collaboration and develop new opportunities for comparative research.