ABSTRACT

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.

抽象的

本文讨论了由COVID-19引起的不确定性对意大利工会成立意图的影响。我们承认，在不确定的条件下做出的决定取决于未来的个人叙述，这是由社会构造的实现个人想象力的应变计划。数据来自在意大利禁闭期的最后一周进行的一项在线调查实验，该实验对1846名恋爱中的人（同居或同居）进行了抽样调查。我们的发现表明，未来的叙事有因果关系对结婚意向的影响：期待在大流行前回到漫长的等待状态会对结婚意向产生负面影响。另一方面，同居似乎更符合当今世界的不确定性。本研究为家庭形成实践中的未来发挥了重要作用，因为在家庭生活课程的文献中已经考虑了更多的“传统”因素。