Socioeconomic Standing and Variability in Marriage Timing in the Twentieth Century

This research draws on extensive data from the General Social Survey (GSS) and the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to shed new light on change and variability in family life. I address two overarching questions. First, how did variability in marriage timing change over the course of the twentieth century? Second, did changes in the variability of marriage timing occur broadly across socioeconomic groups, or have they been limited to the top or bottom of the socioeconomic ladder? Because identifying consistent measures of socioeconomic standing over broad historical periods is not straightforward, and because one’s own socioeconomic standing may be in part flow from marriage decisions, I triangulate results using multiple measures of social standing. Although the magnitude and timing of changes in age of first marriage vary somewhat across social class, my results point to generally similar underlying trends across class groups. Social class variation in marriage patterns is well documented, yet explanations for the changing variability in marriage timing over the course of the twentieth century also needs to consider factors that could have affected all social class groups to some extent.