The thesis analyses the process of divorce and marital dissolution in the Czech Republic and in Austria using advanced methods of event history analysis. The life course perspective of the unique data set of Fertility and Family Survey allows finding important determinants of the process with the focus on individual and partnership characteristics representing the level of individualisation and autonomy. Central importance of the thesis is given to the phenomenon of premarital cohabitation and its role in subsequent marital stability. Marital disruption is further connected to the previous processes of the life stage – leaving parental home and union formation.
Advanced statistical analysis uncovered the mediating individual and partnership characteristics to be the main mechanism of the association between the experience of premarital partnership and subsequently elevated risk of marital breakdown in Austria. Part of the adverse outcome of premarital cohabitation was also explained by the earlier age at union initiation as compared to the age at marriage. In the Czech Republic, in addition to mediating characteristics and intervening behaviours, the self-selection was found to be an important source of the adverse outcome; after controlling for self-selection, premarital cohabitation were on the contrary assigned a beneficial impact on subsequent marital stability, caused by informational function of premarital mate-searching. The differences between the results of both societies led us to a conclusion that in the Czech Republic direct marriage is still perceived as a normal behaviour and the phenomena of cohabitation as a stage of partnership preceding marriage is spreading just recently, while in Austria the cohabitation as both prelude and an alternative to marriage is already well established.
The role of most of the explanatory covariates was found according to previous findings of cited social researchers. As a new finding, high marital instability was identified among persons living independently before union formation. The mechanism of strong pervasive impact of experiencing parental divorce on subsequent life stages was left uncovered. Period increase in the risk of marital disruption was explained by progress in marital instability across birth cohorts.
In summary, the thesis utilises new methods, processes a unique data set and publishes important and interesting results that among others contribute to the understanding of the new phenomena of premarital cohabitation as a conductive and indivisible part of the modern partnership.