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Student loans or marriage? A look at the highly educated

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  • Gicheva, Dora

Abstract

I examine the relationship between student loans and marital status among individuals considering or pursuing graduate management education. Using data from a panel survey of registrants for the Graduate Management Admission Test, I show that the amount of accumulated student debt is negatively related to the probability of first marriage. The strength of the relationship diminishes with age, more so for women than for men. At the median age for the sample (24 years at test registration), the estimated decrease over a seven-year period is between 3 and 4 percentage points per $10,000 in student debt for men and a percentage point lower in absolute value for women. I use information on reported marriage expectations to show evidence that education expenditures and the amount of debt are correlated with anticipated marital status, but borrowers may not have perfect foresight about the long-term consequences of accumulating student debt.

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  • Gicheva, Dora, 2016. "Student loans or marriage? A look at the highly educated," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 207-216.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:53:y:2016:i:c:p:207-216
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.04.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Maria Bartekova & Ludomir Slahor, 2017. "Reform of Student Loan System: Recent Evidence from Slovakia," MIC 2017: Managing the Global Economy; Proceedings of the Joint International Conference, Monastier di Treviso, Italy, 24–27 May 2017,, University of Primorska Press.
    2. Martin Gervais & Nicolas L. Ziebarth, 2019. "Life After Debt: Postgraduation Consequences Of Federal Student Loans," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(3), pages 1342-1366, July.
    3. Jinhee Kim & Swarn Chatterjee, 2019. "Student Loans, Health, and Life Satisfaction of US Households: Evidence from a Panel Study," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 36-50, March.
    4. Stella Min & Miles G. Taylor, 2018. "Racial and Ethnic Variation in the Relationship Between Student Loan Debt and the Transition to First Birth," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(1), pages 165-188, February.
    5. Wenhua Di & Carla Fletcher & Jeff Webster, 2022. "A Rescue or a Trap?—An Analysis of Parent PLUS Student Loans," Working Papers 2217, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    6. Berrak Bahadir & Dora Gicheva, 2022. "Macroeconomic Implications of Student Debt: A State‐Level Analysis," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 54(8), pages 2273-2300, December.
    7. Paolo Guasoni & Yu-Jui Huang, 2022. "Minimizing the Repayment Cost of Federal Student Loans," Papers 2207.03438, arXiv.org.
    8. David Carson Jinkins, 2020. "The Self-Perpetuating Student Loan Debt Crisis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(3), pages 2380-2387.
    9. Wenhua Di & Kelly D. Edmiston, 2017. "Student Loan Relief Programs: Implications for Borrowers and the Federal Government," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 671(1), pages 224-248, May.
    10. Alvaro Mezza & Daniel R. Ringo & Shane M. Sherlund & Kamila Sommer, 2016. "Student Loans and Homeownership," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2016-10, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    11. Thomas Korankye & Charlene M. Kalenkoski, 2021. "The Effect of Households’ Student Debt on Life Satisfaction," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 757-772, December.
    12. Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Cuffe, Harold E, 2020. "Do Struggling Students Benefit From Continued Student Loan Access? Evidence From University and Beyond," Working Paper Series 21067, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    13. Bleemer, Zachary & Brown, Meta & Lee, Donghoon & Strair, Katherine & van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2021. "Echoes of rising tuition in students’ borrowing, educational attainment, and homeownership in post-recession America," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    14. Tomás Monarrez & Lesley J. Turner, 2024. "The Effect of Student Loan Payment Burdens on Borrower Outcomes," Working Papers 24-08, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    15. Sieg, Holger & Wang, Yu, 2018. "The impact of student debt on education, career, and marriage choices of female lawyers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 124-147.
    16. Holger Sieg & Yu Wang, 2017. "The Impact of Student Debt on Education, Career, and Marriage Choices of Female Lawyers," NBER Working Papers 23453, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Webber, Douglas A., 2017. "Risk-sharing and student loan policy: Consequences for students and institutions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-9.
    18. Sarena Goodman & Alice Henriques Volz, 2020. "Attendance Spillovers between Public and For-Profit Colleges: Evidence from Statewide Variation in Appropriations for Higher Education," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 428-456, Summer.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Student loans; Timing of marriage; Education expenditures;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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