This paper addresses the impact of COVID-19-induced uncertainty on union formation intentions in Italy. We acknowledge that decisions made in uncertain conditions rely on personal narratives of the future, that is socially-constructed contingent plans for achieving a personal imaginary. The data come from an on-line survey experiment carried out during the final week of lockdown in Italy on a sample of 1,846 individuals in a romantic relationship (cohabiting or living apart together). Our findings suggest that narratives of the future have a causal effect on marriage intentions: expectations of a long wait before the return to pre-pandemic conditions negatively influence marriage intentions. On the other hand, cohabitation seems more compatible with the uncertainties of today’s world. The present study gives a prominent role to the future in family formation practices, net of more ‘traditional’ factors that have been considered in the literature on family life courses.
CITATION STYLE
Guetto, R., Vignoli, D., & Bazzani, G. (2021). Marriage and cohabitation under uncertainty: the role of narratives of the future during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Societies, 23(S1), S674–S688. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1833359
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