205dependence on the market is higher. Research focusing on the effect of
context on repartnering in Italy (Meggiolaro and Ongaro 2008 ) provides
indirect but interesting insights. While the repartnering trend is increas-
ing over birth cohorts in the whole country, the underlying factors for
repartnering differ according to the place of residence. For instance, in
modern and secularized areas, women’s personal resources (e.g., level of
dependence on the previous union) play a more important role in repart-
nering, whereas socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., previous divorce)
carry more weight in a traditional context.
In addition to the micro and macro levels, attention has to be paid to
the meso level when considering life course processes (Mills 1959 ).
Considering the influence of gender, age, and education on co-residence
trajectories in the three countries together, the impact of the country was
mainly confirmed (Table 7.3). Indeed, in Portugal, Transition to parent-
hood trajectories are less frequent than in Switzerland and more frequent
than in Lithuania. The type Leaving parental home is more frequent in
Portugal, while the Conjugal type is more frequent in the two other coun-
tries. The Solo trajectory is more frequent in Switzerland, and the Nesting
lone parent is more typical of Lithuania, while the Parenthood type is less
frequent in Switzerland. However, at this level of observation, all types of
trajectories are predicted by the age/birth cohort of the respondents.
Indeed, age of individuals is undoubtedly the first factor to think of, as
co-residence trajectories are found to be pluralized only in a limited way
in post-industrial societies. In a majority of cases, they are still largely
structured by stages centred on (reversible forms of ) conjugality and pro-
creation (Widmer and Gauthier 2013 ). Concerning gender, Transition to
lone parenthood trajectories are more frequent for women, and Nesting one
parent and Leaving parental home are more often followed by men. Finally,
regarding the level of education, the trajectories Leaving the parental home
and Conjugality are less likely to be found in lower-educated individuals.
Higher cultural capital is negatively associated with the Parenthood type
and positively associated with the Solo type of trajectory.
Examining the influence of gender, age, and education on co-residence
trajectories in each country separately, we observe for Switzerland that
women are more likely to follow Transition to lone parenthood and
Linking Family Trajectories and Personal Networks