IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eurpop/v27y2011i3d10.1007_s10680-011-9238-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Influence of Men’s Income and Employment on Marriage and Cohabitation: Testing Oppenheimer’s Theory in Europe
[L’impact du niveau de revenu et du travail des hommes sur le mariage et la cohabitation: la théorie d’Oppenheimer testée en Europe]

Author

Listed:
  • Matthijs Kalmijn

    (Tilburg University)

Abstract

This article discusses Oppenheimer’s theory on marriage timing, reviews the way this theory was received in European demography and family sociology, and develops a new test of the theory using annual panel data from 13 European countries for the period 1994–2001. Several indicators of men’s economic status are used, including school enrollment, employment, type of labor contract, work experience, income, and education. Effects of these indicators are estimated for the transition to marriage and cohabitation, as well as for the transition from cohabitation to marriage. Country differences in these effects are examined as well. The evidence provides strong support for the male breadwinner hypothesis on the one hand, and for Oppenheimer’s career uncertainty hypothesis on the other. However, the relevance of these hypotheses also depends on the national context, and especially on the way gender roles are divided in a society.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthijs Kalmijn, 2011. "The Influence of Men’s Income and Employment on Marriage and Cohabitation: Testing Oppenheimer’s Theory in Europe [L’impact du niveau de revenu et du travail des hommes sur le mariage et la cohabit," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 269-293, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:27:y:2011:i:3:d:10.1007_s10680-011-9238-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-011-9238-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10680-011-9238-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10680-011-9238-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reynolds Farley, 1988. "After the starting line: Blacks and women in an uphill race," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 25(4), pages 477-495, November.
    2. Daniel Lichter & Zhenchao Qian & Leanna Mellott, 2006. "Marriage or dissolution? Union transitions among poor cohabiting women," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 223-240, May.
    3. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, March.
    4. Yu Xie & James Raymo & Kimberly Goyette & Arland Thornton, 2003. "Erratum to: “Economic Potential and Entry Into Marriage and Cohabitation”," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(2), pages 1-1, May.
    5. Pamela Smock & Wendy Manning, 1997. "Cohabiting partners’ economic circumstances and marriage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 34(3), pages 331-341, August.
    6. Stephen Nickell, 1997. "Unemployment and Labor Market Rigidities: Europe versus North America," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 55-74, Summer.
    7. Alicia Adsera, 2011. "Where Are the Babies? Labor Market Conditions and Fertility in Europe [Où sont les bébés ? Conditions du marché du travail et fécondité en Europe]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 1-32, February.
    8. Theodore P. Gerber & Danielle Berman, 2010. "Entry to Marriage and Cohabitation in Russia, 1985–2000: Trends, Correlates, and Implications for the Second Demographic Transition," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 3-31, February.
    9. Yu Xie & James Raymo & Kimberl Goyette & Arland Thornton, 2003. "Economic potential and entry into marriage and cohabitation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(2), pages 351-367, May.
    10. Larry Bumpass, 1990. "What’s happening to the family? Interactions between demographic and institutional change," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 27(4), pages 483-498, November.
    11. Waldron, Ingrid & Hughes, Mary Elizabeth & Brooks, Tracy L., 1996. "Marriage protection and marriage selection--Prospective evidence for reciprocal effects of marital status and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 113-123, July.
    12. Valerie Oppenheimer, 2003. "Cohabiting and marriage during young men’s career-development process," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(1), pages 127-149, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D’Ambrosio & Anthony Lepinteur, 2023. "Marriage as insurance: job protection and job insecurity in France," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1157-1190, December.
    2. Landaud, Fanny, 2021. "From employment to engagement? Stable jobs, temporary jobs, and cohabiting relationships," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    3. Layla Van den Berg & Dimitri Mortelmans, 2022. "Endogamy and relationship dissolution: Does unmarried cohabitation matter?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(17), pages 489-528.
    4. Brian Buh, 2021. "Measuring the Effect of Employment uncertainty on Fertility in Europe (A literature review)," VID Working Papers 2103, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    5. Ryohei Mogi & Ryota Mugiyama & Giammarco Alderotti, 2022. "Employment uncertainty and non-coresidential partnership in very-low fertility countries: Italy and Japan," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2022_07, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    6. Rouvroye, Lin & van Dalen, Hendrik Peter & Henkens, Kène & Schippers, Joop J., 2023. "A distaste for insecurity: job preferences of young people in the transition to adulthood," Other publications TiSEM 2d305dbd-636e-48e8-afb6-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Alisa C. Lewin, 2012. "Marriage Patterns Among Palestinians in Israel [Schémas de Nuptialité Chez Les Palestiniens d’Israël]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 28(3), pages 359-380, August.
    8. Sunnee Billingsley & Livia Oláh, 2022. "Patterns of Co‐Residential Relationships Across Cohorts in Post‐Socialist Countries: Less Time for Childbearing?," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 87-99.
    9. Ryohei Mogi & Daniele Vignoli, 2021. "Sexual debut and dating of university students in low fertility societies: Italy and Japan," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2021_06, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    10. Erzsébet Bukodi, 2012. "Serial Cohabitation among Men in Britain: Does Work History Matter? [Cohabitations successives des hommes en Angleterre : l’histoire professionnelle joue-t-elle un rôle ?]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 28(4), pages 441-466, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Viviana Salinas, 2016. "Changes in Cohabitation After the Birth of the First Child in Chile," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(3), pages 351-375, June.
    2. Maria Cancian & Daniel Meyer, 2014. "Testing the Economic Independence Hypothesis: The Effect of an Exogenous Increase in Child Support on Subsequent Marriage and Cohabitation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 857-880, June.
    3. Wei-hsin Yu & Janet Chen-Lan Kuo, 2017. "Another work-family interface: Work characteristics and family intentions in Japan," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(13), pages 391-426.
    4. Daniel Schneider & Kristen Harknett & Matthew Stimpson, 2019. "Job Quality and the Educational Gradient in Entry Into Marriage and Cohabitation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 451-476, April.
    5. Darcy W. Hango & Céline Le Bourdais, 2007. "Early Union Formation in Canada: Links with Education," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 339-368, October.
    6. Christina Gibson-Davis & Anna Gassman-Pines & Rebecca Lehrman, 2018. "“His” and “Hers”: Meeting the Economic Bar to Marriage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2321-2343, December.
    7. Averett, Susan L. & Sikora, Asia & Argys, Laura M., 2008. "For better or worse: Relationship status and body mass index," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 330-349, December.
    8. David McClendon & Janet Kuo & R. Raley, 2014. "Opportunities to Meet: Occupational Education and Marriage Formation in Young Adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1319-1344, August.
    9. Jona Schellekens & David Gliksberg, 2018. "The Decline in Marriage in Israel, 1960–2007: Period or Cohort Effect?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(1), pages 119-142, February.
    10. Fenaba Addo, 2014. "Debt, Cohabitation, and Marriage in Young Adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1677-1701, October.
    11. Setsuya Fukuda, 2013. "The Changing Role of Women’s Earnings in Marriage Formation in Japan," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 646(1), pages 107-128, March.
    12. Jonathan Vespa, 2012. "Union Formation in Later Life: Economic Determinants of Cohabitation and Remarriage Among Older Adults," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(3), pages 1103-1125, August.
    13. Alexandra Killewald & Ian Lundberg, 2017. "New Evidence Against a Causal Marriage Wage Premium," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 1007-1028, June.
    14. Keuntae Kim, 2017. "The changing role of employment status in marriage formation among young Korean adults," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(5), pages 145-172.
    15. Muzhi Zhou & Xiaogang Wu & Guangye He, 2017. "Marriage in an immigrant society: Education and the transition to first marriage in Hong Kong," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(18), pages 567-598.
    16. Patrick Ishizuka, 2018. "The Economic Foundations of Cohabiting Couples’ Union Transitions," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(2), pages 535-557, April.
    17. Wendy Manning & Pamela Smock & Cassandra Dorius & Elizabeth Cooksey, 2014. "Cohabitation Expectations Among Young Adults in the United States: Do They Match Behavior?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(2), pages 287-305, April.
    18. Philipp M. Lersch, 2017. "The Marriage Wealth Premium Revisited: Gender Disparities and Within-Individual Changes in Personal Wealth in Germany," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 961-983, June.
    19. Ehlert, Martin, 2016. "The Impact of Losing Your Job: Unemployment and Influences from Market, Family, and State on Economic Well-Being in the US and Germany," EconStor Books, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 184652, July.
    20. Máire Ní Bhrolcháin & ÉVa Beaujouan, 2013. "Education and Cohabitation in Britain: A Return to Traditional Patterns?," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 39(3), pages 441-458, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:27:y:2011:i:3:d:10.1007_s10680-011-9238-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.