So happy together … Examining the association between relationship happiness, socio-economic status, and family transitions in the UK

Figures & data

Table 1  Percentages, means, and standard deviations for transitions and independent variables for the two analysis samples, UK 2009–17

	Analysis 1				Analysis 2
	Transitions from childless cohabitation (n = 1,197)				Transitions from childless cohabitation or marriage (n = 1,670)
	N	Percentage	Mean	SD	N	Percentage	Mean	SD
Transition
No transition	484	40.4	–	–	924	55.3	–	–
Marriage	236	19.7	–	–	–	–	–	–
Conception	162	13.5	–	–	405	24.3	–	–
Separation	315	26.3	–	–	341	20.4	–	–
Relationship happiness (categorical)
Extremely unhappy	48	4.0	–	–	69	4.1	–	–
Fairly unhappy	24	2.0	–	–	32	1.9	–	–
A little unhappy	42	3.5	–	–	57	3.4	–	–
Happy	185	15.5	–	–	238	14.3	–	–
Very happy	290	24.2	–	–	385	23.1	–	–
Extremely happy	454	37.9	–	–	630	37.7	–	–
Perfect	154	12.9	–	–	259	15.5	–	–
Household income (tertiles)
Higher income	433	36.2	–	–	617	37.1	–	–
Middle income	403	33.7	–	–	553	32.4	–	–
Lower income	361	30.2	–	–	500	30.5	–	–
Employment status
Employed	1,027	85.8	–	–	1,437	86.1	–	–
Unemployed	70	5.9	–	–	97	5.8	–	–
Non-employed	100	8.4	–	–	136	8.1	–	–
Partner’s employment status
Employed	959	80.1	–	–	1,350	80.8	–	–
Unemployed	75	6.3	–	–	111	6.7	–	–
Non-employed	83	6.9	–	–	115	6.9	–	–
No information available	80	6.7	–	–	94	5.6	–	–
Education
Higher	595	49.7	–	–	878	52.6	–	–
Middle	292	24.4	–	–	371	22.2	–	–
Lower	310	25.9	–	–	421	25.2	–	–
Sex
Female	679	56.7	–	–	938	56.2	–	–
Male	518	43.3	–	–	732	43.8	–	–
Partnership status
Cohabitation	1,197	100.0	–	–	971	58.1	–	–
Marriage	0	0.0	–	–	699	41.9	–	–
Relationship history
No previous relationship	724	60.5	–	–	1,045	62.6	–	–
Had previous relationship	473	39.5	–	–	625	37.4	–	–
No. of children before relationship (0–6)	–	–	0.4	0.9			0.4	0.9
Country of residence
England	990	82.7	–	–	1,382	82.8	–	–
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland	207	17.3	–	–	288	17.3	–	–
Ethnicity
White British	1,033	86.3	–	–	1,329	79.6	–	–
Other	164	13.7	–	–	341	20.4	–	–
Age (16–45)	–	–	29.3	6.8	–	–	30.0	6.8
Relationship duration before wave (0–3.9 years)	–	–	1.4	1.1	–	–	1.6	1.1
Panel wave
Wave 1	901	75.3	–	–	1,308	78.3	–	–
Wave 3	193	16.1	–	–	239	14.3	–	–
Wave 5	103	8.6	–	–	123	7.4	–	–
Time to event or censoring (1–36 months)	–	–	18.4	11.7	–	–	21.9	12.1

Notes: Ranges in parentheses. SD is the standard deviation.

Source: Authors’ analysis of UKHLS 2009–17.

Table 2  Transitions from childless cohabitation to marriage, conception, or separation, from competing risk hazard models: Relative risk ratios, UK 2009–17

	Analysis 1. Transitions from childless cohabitation to: Model 1
	Marriage			Conception			Separation
	RRR	CI lower	CI upper	RRR	CI lower	CI upper	RRR	CI lower	CI upper
Relationship happiness
Unhappy	0.427	0.225	0.807	1.027	0.566	1.865	1.460	0.978	2.181
Happy	0.392	0.233	0.660	0.464	0.257	0.838	1.270	0.873	1.846
Very happy	0.461	0.320	0.664	0.859	0.580	1.274	1.264	0.923	1.732
Extremely happy	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Perfect	1.006	0.677	1.497	1.073	0.678	1.698	1.532	1.039	2.259
Household income (tertiles)
Higher income	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Middle income	0.760	0.518	1.115	0.902	0.537	1.517	0.813	0.579	1.140
Lower income	0.626	0.364	1.078	1.117	0.642	1.943	0.918	0.631	1.337
Employment status
Employed	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Unemployed	0.828	0.393	1.745	1.195	0.696	2.052	1.265	0.819	1.956
Non-employed	0.682	0.383	1.216	0.723	0.410	1.273	1.044	0.702	1.554
Partner’s employment status
Employed	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Unemployed	0.680	0.291	1.585	1.336	0.744	2.400	1.440	0.913	2.272
Non-employed	1.115	0.651	1.908	0.988	0.537	1.818	1.221	0.776	1.922
No information available	0.620	0.341	1.128	1.067	0.581	1.960	1.098	0.750	1.606
Education
Higher	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Middle	0.805	0.560	1.157	1.424	0.905	2.242	0.890	0.657	1.206
Lower	0.929	0.618	1.397	1.474	0.948	2.290	1.085	0.797	1.476

Notes: Controlled for sex, relationship history, number of children before relationship, country, ethnicity, age, relationship duration, wave, and t (baseline hazard of duration). RRR is the relative risk ratio; ‘Ref.’ refers to the reference category; ‘CI lower/upper’ are the lower/upper limits of the 95 per cent confidence interval.

Source: As for Table 1.

Table 3  Transitions from childless cohabitation or marriage to conception or separation, from competing risk hazard models: Relative risk ratios, UK 2009–17

	Analysis 2. Transitions from childless cohabitation or marriage to:
	Model 2						Model 3
	Conception			Separation			Conception			Separation
	RRR	CI lower	CI upper	RRR	CI lower	CI upper	RRR	CI lower	CI upper	RRR	CI lower	CI upper
Relationship happiness
Unhappy	0.922	0.620	1.370	1.558	1.066	2.277	1.105	0.610	2.003	1.449	0.971	2.161
Happy	0.642	0.442	0.935	1.261	0.877	1.813	0.505	0.277	0.921	1.250	0.861	1.815
Very happy	0.965	0.748	1.246	1.253	0.922	1.704	0.879	0.586	1.319	1.254	0.915	1.718
Extremely happy	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Perfect	0.974	0.725	1.308	1.497	1.034	2.165	1.152	0.729	1.820	1.481	1.004	2.183
Partnership status
Cohabitation	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Married	2.601	1.990	3.399	0.126	0.079	0.203	2.568	1.801	3.660	0.107	0.044	0.258
Relationship happiness × Partnership status
Unhappy × Married	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.728	0.338	1.569	2.121	0.622	7.232
Happy × Married	–	–	–	–	–	–	1.574	0.727	3.412	1.106	0.253	4.832
Very happy × Married	–	–	–	–	–	–	1.185	0.712	1.971	0.932	0.246	3.526
Perfect × Married	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.780	0.433	1.405	1.180	0.318	4.384
Household income (tertiles)
Higher income	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Middle income	0.738	0.545	0.999	0.922	0.667	1.274	0.735	0.543	0.995	0.920	0.666	1.271
Lower income	0.712	0.482	1.051	1.032	0.726	1.467	0.711	0.481	1.052	1.027	0.722	1.460
Employment status
Employed	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Unemployed	1.161	0.754	1.788	1.200	0.790	1.821	1.164	0.755	1.794	1.205	0.792	1.833
Non-employed	0.741	0.488	1.125	0.987	0.671	1.453	0.741	0.488	1.124	0.990	0.673	1.457
Partner’s employment status
Employed	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Unemployed	1.468	0.965	2.234	1.336	0.867	2.060	1.445	0.949	2.200	1.347	0.873	2.077
Non-employed	0.964	0.625	1.484	1.313	0.865	1.992	0.954	0.618	1.473	1.324	0.872	2.011
No information available	1.202	0.799	1.806	1.054	0.723	1.537	1.206	0.802	1.815	1.059	0.727	1.544
Education
Higher	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–	Ref.	–	–
Middle	1.008	0.756	1.345	0.890	0.662	1.195	1.011	0.757	1.350	0.892	0.664	1.197
Lower	1.294	0.982	1.706	1.012	0.751	1.363	1.291	0.980	1.702	1.012	0.751	1.363

Notes: Controlled for sex, relationship history, number of children before relationship, country, ethnicity, age, relationship duration, wave, and t (baseline hazard of duration). RRR is the relative risk ratio; ‘Ref.’ refers to the reference category; ‘CI lower/upper’ are the lower/upper limits of the 95 per cent confidence interval.

Source: As for Table 1.