Projects
Relationship quality and family transitions: The UK in international comparison
Project contributors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B,
This Project is part of the following research programme/s:
Overview
In this project we analyse couple relationship quality and how it is related to partnership formation, dissolution, and childbearing in the UK and across Europe. With our research we are able to follow both partners over time and accompany them through the first years of their relationship and into parenthood. A particular focus of our study will be on differences between marriage and cohabitation, as the latter has increasingly become a more common living arrangement for couples and a setting for childbearing.
We pay particular attention to financial problems and changes in employment to see whether disadvantaged individuals have a poorer relationship quality, and if these disadvantaged individuals with poor relationship quality are more or less likely to have a child than those in a better economic situation.
Our longitudinal approach provides a unique opportunity to advance causal explanations regarding relationship quality and outcomes, as well as new insights into the key factors that determine partnership stability and duration. A further aspect of our study will be a comparison between the UK and other European countries using Understanding Society and The Generations and Gender Surveys.
Publications & Activities
Relationship quality and family formation in Europe
Advances in Life Course Research (2023). 55
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B, Wiik K,
Relationship quality: Partnership transitions, economic uncertainty, and changes during Covid-19
Social Policy Research Colloquium (2022). (Hertie School Berlin (online))
Authors: Perelli-Harris B,
Relationship quality: Partnership transitions, economic uncertainty, and changes during Covid-19
University of Copenhagen (2021). (Copenhagen)
Authors: Perelli-Harris B,
So happy together ... Examining the association between relationship happiness, socio-economic status, and family transitions in the UK
Population Studies: A Journal of Demography (2021). 76 (3) 447-464
Authors: Perelli-Harris B, Blom N,
Relationship quality and Family Formation in Europe. How country context shapes (un)happy couples
6th GGP User Conference (2021). (Virtual)
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B, Wiik K,
Relationship quality and family formation in Europe. How country context shapes (un)happy couples' transitions to marriage and first birth
CPC (2021). Series Number: 96.
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B, Wiik K,
Temporal dimensions of unemployment and relationship happiness in the United Kingdom
European Sociological Review (2021). 37 (2) 253-270
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B,
Relationship Quality and Family Formation in Europe: How Country Context Shapes (Un)happy Couples' Transitions to Marriage and First Birth
PAA conference 2021 (2021). (Virtual)
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B, Wiik K,
Is there a "bar" for relationship quality? Examining the association between relationship happiness, economic precarity, and family transitions throughout Europe.
2nd International Seminar Scientific on “New and Emerging Family Forms around the Globe” (2020). (Manila, Philippines)
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B, Wiik K,
Partner relationship quality in the UK and abroad: unemployment causes and family consequences
ISER seminar (2020). (University of Essex)
Authors: Blom N,
Unemployment and relationship happiness in the UK
University of Southampton, CPC (2020). Series Number: 93.
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B,
Unemployment harms couples' relationship happiness
University of Southampton, CPC (2020). Series Number: 49.
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B,
Is there a "bar" for relationship quality? Examining the association between relationship happiness, economic conditions, and family transitions in the UK
18th Annual Meeting of the European Network for the Sociological and Demographic Study of Divorce (2020). (Virtual)
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B,
Becoming a Female‐Breadwinner Household in Australia: Changes in Relationship Satisfaction
Journal of Marriage and Family (2019). 82 (4) 1340-1357
Authors: Blom N, Hewitt B,
Couples' Job Insecurity and Relationship Satisfaction in the Netherlands
Journal of Marriage and Family (2019). 82 (3) 875-891
Authors: Blom N, Verbakel E, Kraaykamp G,
Is there a "bar" for Relationship Quality? Family Transitions in the UK
Understanding Society Scientific Board Meeting (2019). (University of Essex)
Authors: Perelli-Harris B, Blom N,
Precarity and Relationship Quality in the UK: Long-term Economic Uncertainty, Employment Shocks, and Perceptions of Future Financial Outlook
IAAR mini-conference 2019; A Conference on Relationship Science in Applied Settings (2019). (University of Brighton)
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B,
Past, present and perceptions of future economic hardship and the quality of partner relationships in the United Kingdom
ECSR Conference 2019 (2019). (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
Authors: Blom N, Perelli-Harris B,
Past, present and perceptions of future economic hardship and the quality of partner relationships in the United Kingdom
19th Dutch Annual Meeting of Sociologists (2019). (University of Amsterdam)
Authors: Blom N,
Precarity and relationship quality in the UK: long-term economic uncertainty, employment shocks and perceptions of future financial outlook
Understanding Society Conference (2019). (University of Essex)
Authors: Blom N,
Media
Most couples are less satisfied when the woman earns more Asiaone. 2021
Australian news article about research by Dr Niels Blom into relationship happiness when the woman earns more.
Here's what an unravelling economy could do to couples-study Delano. 2020
Research by Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris and Dr Niels Blom on the impact of COVID-19 on relationships.
How the unraveling economy threatens couples The National Interest. 2020
Research by Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris and Dr Niels Blom on the impact of COVID-19 on relationships
Your relationship can take a hit in Covid economy. New study reveals how The Post. 2020
Relating to research from Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris and Dr Niels Blom on unemployment an relationship happiness.
Here's what an unravelling economy could do to couples Qrius. 2020
Research by Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris and Dr Niels Blom on the impact of the economic consequences of the lockdown on relationships.
Here's what an unravelling economy could do to couples - new study Yahoo News. 2020
Covid-19 spells trouble for millions of couples: the impact of unemployment on relationships University of Southampton. 2020
Most couples are less satisfied when the woman earns more The Conversation. 2020
Article on The Conversation about Dr Niels Blom research: Relationship quality and family transitions.
Family Formation Understanding Society. 2020
Brienna Perelli-Harris talks about her research in cohabitation and relationship quality in this video clip from Understanding Society.
Is two weeks too soon to decide to get married? The Guardian. 2019
Relaties onder spanning door werk (Relationships under stress through work) Sociologie Magazine. 2019
When women become the breadwinner the trouble starts Trouw . 2019
Do men really need to get accustomed to a woman who earns more? Intermediair . 2019
Women in the kitchen Metro. 2019
Happiness of the breadwinner Algemeen Dagblad. 2019
Wife with higher income is bad for relationship Het Belang van Limburg . 2019
Discussion of research on relationship satisfaction and the gender of the breadwinner
When wife earns more than husband, than the trouble starts Het Laatste Nieuws . 2019
Couple more satisfied with traditional roles Nederlands Dagblad . 2019
Does money make couples happy? Le Vif . 2019
Women with higher income is bad for relationship De Telegraaf . 2019
Discussion of research on relationship satisfaction and the gender of the breadwinner
Women who earn a lot? Nice, But not for their relationship happiness. Why is that? Het Laatste Nieuws . 2019
: Partners slightly more satisfied with the relationship when the man is the breadwinner Reformatorisch Dagblad . 2019
Couples happier if man is breadwinner Volkskrant . 2019
