Introduction

Résumé 0

This special issue of Population is devoted entirely to the EPIC survey on individual and conjugal trajectories (Étude des parcours individuels et conjugaux), the third large-scale French survey on union formation after Choice of Spouse (Le choix du conjoint, 1959) and Couple Formation (La formation des couples, 1983-1984). The survey was conducted in metropolitan France in 2013–2014 by the French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) and the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) among 7,825 women and men aged 26–65. Rather than focusing on a single theme, the seven articles in this issue explore a range of subjects, illustrating the broad research potential of the EPIC survey data. Following a discussion of the survey’s background, design, and methodological choices in the opening article (Wilfried Rault and Arnaud Régnier-Loilier), the topics covered include wedding rituals and the ways marriage is celebrated (Florence Maillochon), the influence of conjugal history on the repartnering process (Arnaud Régnier-Loilier), experiences of singlehood (Marie Bergström, Géraldine Vivier, and Françoise Courtel), the effects of longer periods in education on assortative mating (Milan Bouchet-Valat and Sébastien Grobon), second unions (Vianney Costemalle), and same-sex relationships (Wilfried Rault and Camille Lambert).