In this paper we examine how children affect happiness and relationships within a family by analyzing two unique … questions in the National Longitudinal Study of Youth's 1997 cohort. We find that (a) presence of children is associated with a … loss of spousal love; (b) loss of spousal love is associated with loss of overall happiness; but (c) presence of children …

Children can be considered as a marriage-specific investment that increases the value of the marriage, making a divorce … children conceived during first marriage. Our results indicate that the presence of children significantly reduces the … conclude that children conceived before first marriage increase the risk of marital disruption. Finally, the higher the parents …

well-being and separation. We first estimate the marital surplus using a simple matching model of the marriage market with … estimates of the marital surplus are negatively correlated with separation and the difference in spouses' subjective satisfaction. …

well-being and separation. We first estimate the marital surplus using a simple matching model of the marriage market with … satisfaction. …

We develop a theoretical model of mating behavior and parental investment in children under asymmetry in kin … recognition between men and women that provides a microfoundation for the institution of marriage. In the model, men and women …. As a socially sanctioned commitment device among partners, the institution of marriage reduces this risk by restraining …