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Women's Income and Marriage Markets in the United States: Evidence from the Civil War Pension

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  • Salisbury, Laura

Abstract

Under the Civil War pension act of 1862, Union Army widows were entitled to pensions; however, they lost these pensions if they remarried. Using a database compiled from widows' pension files, I estimate the effect this had on widows' remarriage decisions. I find that receiving a pension lowered the hazard rate of remarriage by 25 percent, which implies an increase in the median time to remarriage of 3.5 years. Among older women, the effect is greater. These results suggest that many Union Army widows faced highly unfavorable marriage prospects.

Suggested Citation

  • Salisbury, Laura, 2017. "Women's Income and Marriage Markets in the United States: Evidence from the Civil War Pension," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 1-38, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:77:y:2017:i:01:p:1-38_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Shari Eli & Laura Salisbury & Allison Shertzer, 2016. "Migration Responses to Conflict: Evidence from the Border of the American Civil War," NBER Working Papers 22591, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Richard Chisik, 2015. "Job market signalling, stereotype threat and counter-stereotypical behaviour," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 48(1), pages 155-188, February.
    3. Eli, Shari & Salisbury, Laura, 2016. "Patronage Politics and the Development of the Welfare State: Confederate Pensions in the American South," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(4), pages 1078-1112, December.
    4. Ruobing Liang & Xiaobing Wang & Futoshi Yamauchi, 2021. "Cotton Revolution and Widow Chastity in Ming and Qing China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 232-252, January.
    5. Kota Ogasawara & Erika Igarashi, 2021. "The Impacts of the Gender Imbalance on the Marriage Market: Evidence from World War II in Japan," Papers 2102.00687, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2024.
    6. Shanan, Yannay, 2024. "The intergenerational effects of welfare transfers among single mothers: Evidence from an Israeli welfare reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    7. Liang, Ruobing & Wang, Xiaobing & Yamauchi, Futoshi, "undated". "Cotton Revolution And Widow Chastity In Ming And Qing China," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274177, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Philipp Ager & Leah Boustan & Katherine Eriksson, 2021. "The Intergenerational Effects of a Large Wealth Shock: White Southerners after the Civil War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(11), pages 3767-3794, November.
    9. You, Jing & Yi, Xuejie & Chen, Meng, 2016. "Love, Life, and “Leftover Ladies” in Urban China," MPRA Paper 70494, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Braun, Sebastian T. & Stuhler, Jan, 2024. "The economic consequences of being widowed by war: A life-cycle perspective," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    11. Yannick Dupraz & Andreas Ferrara, 2025. "Fatherless: The Long-Term Effects of Losing a Father in the U.S. Civil War," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 60(4), pages 1126-1174.
    12. Dora L. Costa & Heather DeSomer & Eric Hanss & Christopher Roudiez & Sven E. Wilson & Noelle Yetter, 2017. "Union Army veterans, all grown up," Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2), pages 79-95, April.
    13. Ogasawara, Kota & Igarashi, Erika, 2025. "The impacts of the gender imbalance on the marriage market: Evidence from World War II in Japan," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    14. Laura Salisbury, 2024. "Union Army Widows and the Historical Take-Up of Social Benefits," NBER Chapters, in: The Economic History of American Inequality: New Evidence and Perspectives, pages 123-164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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