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Not your lucky day: romantically and numerically special wedding date divorce risks

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Kabátek

    (University of Melbourne
    Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
    Tilburg University; and Netspar)

  • David C. Ribar

    (University of Melbourne
    Institute of Labor Economics (IZA))

Abstract

Characteristics of couples on or about their wedding day and characteristics of weddings have been shown to predict marital outcomes. Little is known, however, about how the dates of the weddings correlate with marriage durability. Using Dutch marriage and divorce registries from 1999 to 2013, this study compares the durations of marriages that began on unusually popular wedding dates with marriages on ordinary dates. We identify several distinct types of popular dates, including Valentine’s Day and numerically special days (dates with the same or sequential number values, e.g., 9.9.99, 1.2.03), showing that on an adjusted basis, the incidence of weddings on such dates was 137–509% higher than ordinary dates. The hazard odds of divorce for these special-date weddings were 18–36% higher than ordinary-date weddings. Sorting on couples’ observable characteristics accounts for some of the higher divorce risks, but even after controlling for these characteristics, special-date weddings were more vulnerable, with 10–17% higher divorce odds compared to ordinary dates. These relationships are even stronger for couples who have not married before.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Kabátek & David C. Ribar, 2018. "Not your lucky day: romantically and numerically special wedding date divorce risks," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1067-1095, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:31:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s00148-017-0684-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-017-0684-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Jan Kabátek, 2018. "Divorced in a Flash: The Effect of the Administrative Divorce Option on Marital Stability in the Netherlands," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2018n12, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    2. Andrew Grant & Steve Satchell, 2019. "Endogenous divorce risk and investment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 845-876, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marriage; Divorce; Valentine’s Day; Commitment; Weddings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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