Marriage Meets the Joneses: Relative Income, Identity, and Marital Status
This paper investigates the effect of relative income on marriage. Accounting flexibly for absolute income, the ratio between a man’s income and a local reference group median is a strong predictor of marital status, but only for low-income men. Relative income affects marriage even among those living with a partner. A 10 percent higher reference group income is associated with a 2 percent reduction in marriage. We propose an identity model to explain the results.
Year of publication: |
2011
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Authors: | Watson, Tara ; McLanahan, Sara |
Published in: |
Journal of Human Resources. - University of Wisconsin Press. - Vol. 46.2011, 3
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Publisher: |
University of Wisconsin Press |
Saved in:
Online Resource
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