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Female Labor Market Conditions and Family Formation

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Author Info
Ayako Kondo () (Columbia University - Department of Economics)
Abstract

Slack labor market conditions for women relative to men increase marriage rates for young women. One reason is that this increase may be from marginal marriages due to some females lowering their reservation match quality, and so lead to future divorces and possibly to increases in female headship and poverty. This paper examines the long-term consequences of such marriages using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. I find that the marriages induced by relatively poor economics conditions for women reflect shifts in the timing of marriage among young women who would eventually marry anyway. Labor market conditions at age 18-20 do not affect the fraction of women who will marry by age 30. Further, labor market conditions at marriage are uncorrelated with the probability of divorce or with spouses' characteristics, and marrying young in response to labor market shocks does not significantly affect a woman's fertility or labor supply. These findings are consistent with a model in which economic conditions affect women's search intensity without affecting their reservation match quality.

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Paper provided by Columbia University, Department of Economics in its series Discussion Papers with number 0809-08.

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Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:clu:wpaper:0809-08

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  2. Rajeev Dehejia & Adriana LLeras Muney, 2004. "Booms, Busts, and Babies' Health," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(3), pages 1091-1130, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn & Jane Waldfogel, 2000. "Understanding Young Women's Marriage Decisions: The Role of Labor and Marriage Market Conditions," NBER Working Papers 7510, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Melvin Stephens, 2004. "Job Displacement, Disability, and Divorce," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 489-522, April. [Downloadable!]
  5. Timothy J. Bartik, 2003. "Local Economic Development Policies," Staff Working Papers 03-91, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 1996. "Female Labour Supply and Marital Status Decisions: A Life-Cycle Model," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 63(2), pages 199-235, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Lehrer, Evelyn L, 1996. "Religion as a Determinant of Marital Fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 173-96, May.
  9. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "A Theory of Marriage: Part II," NBER Chapters, in: Marriage, Family, Human Capital, and Fertility, pages 11-26 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Blackburn, McKinley L & Bloom, David E & Neumark, David, 1993. "Fertility Timing, Wages, and Human Capital," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-30.
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  11. Evelyn L. Lehrer, 2006. "Age at Marriage and Marital Instability: Revisiting the Becker-Landes-Michael Hypothesis," IZA Discussion Papers 2166, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  12. Gould, Eric D. & Paserman, M. Daniele, 2003. "Waiting for Mr. Right: rising inequality and declining marriage rates," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 257-281, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 2000. "Dropout and Enrollment Trends in the Post-War Period: What Went Wrong in the 1970s?," NBER Working Papers 7658, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Lena Edlund, 2006. "Marriage: Past, Present, Future?," CESifo Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 621-639, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Weiss, Yoram & Willis, Robert J, 1997. "Match Quality, New Information, and Marital Dissolution," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages S293-329, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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