This paper provides a theoretical economic framework to study the effects of changes in the sex ratio on the out-of-wedlock birth rate in the United States. We model the demanders and suppliers of sexual relations as potential mates and the relative ¡°price¡± of human sexual relations as the...

This paper describes marriage and partnership patterns and trends in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa from 2000-2006. The study is based on longitudinal, population-based data collected by the Africa Centre demographic surveillance system. We consider whether the high rates of non-marriage...

Economic and sociological theories of marriage have long emphasized the impact of women’s education and employment on union formation. In this study, we explore the relevance of the female economic independence hypothesis to explain women’s patterns of entry into marriage and...

A small but growing body of research has begun to identify the consequences of military service during the all-voluntary era. In this article, we examine the relationship between military service and the likelihood that cohabiting unions will be converted into marriages. Our paper extends...

This paper addresses the sex differences in cohabiters’ marriage preferences, which have received very little attention in the family literature. According to Norwegian survey data from 1996, cohabiting men are more hesitant to marry than cohabiting women. For example, childless male...

This paper investigates the effect of education on the timing of marriage among Kenyan women and the relative effects of education across generations of women. Data used is drawn from the 1998 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey. The Cox proportional hazard model and linear regression analysis...

Adult mortality due to HIV/AIDS and other diseases is posited to affect children through a number of pathways. On top of health and education outcomes, adult mortality can have significant effects on children by influencing demographic outcomes including the timing of marriage. This paper...

Very little is known about recent trends in divorce in Japan. In this paper, we use Japanese vital statistics and census data to describe trends in the experience of marital dissolution across the life course, and to examine change over time in educational differentials in divorce. Cumulative...

The micro census 1994 of the Russian Federation collected detailed marital histories for al respondents. This information made it possible to construct multistate marital tables for both male and female cohorts born since 1910 for the first time. Continuity and change in marital patterns over a...

This study examines the effects of spouses’ prior marital status and socio-demographic characteristics on the risk of divorce of 1762 Muslim marriages recorded in 1982-83 in Teknaf, Bangladesh. Grooms' prior marital status was categorized into never married, divorced, widowed or...