We study the effect of marriage on the stability of formal partnerships exploiting same-sex marriage legalization in the Netherlands as a natural experiment. Same-sex marriage legalization allowed registered partnerships to be transformed into marriage. Since registered partnerships and...

This paper investigates the impact of individuals' school peers on their adult romantic relationships. In particular, we consider the effect of quasi-random variation in the share of black students within an individual's cohort on the percentage of adults' cohabiting partners that are black. We...

Differences in the timing and pathway into family life provide insights into the social distance between majority and immigrant-background groups. Increasing similarity in these processes across immigrant generations may indicate blurring of group distinctions. We situate our study in Norway, a...

Using Norwegian register data on migrant-background individuals born 1985 to 2001 who were either native born or who immigrated as children or teens, in combination with data from the World Marriage Database, we investigate how residential partner markets and marriage behavior in countries of...

This paper exploits variations among U.S. states to show that gay and lesbian couples increased their labor supply following the legalization of same-sex marriage. Both partners in these couples were more likely to be employed, to work full time, and to work longer hours. Marriage equality was...

This paper investigates whether interracial contact in childhood impacts adult romantic relationships. We exploit quasi-random variation in the share of black students across cohorts within US schools. We find that more black peers of the same gender lead whites to have more relationships with...

The share of children living in a two-parent family has declined sharply in the past 40 years, driven by a decline in marriage among parents without a four-year college degree. This paper presents a number of facts about these trends, drawing on US Census data, the Current Population Survey, the...

Sexual minorities have had worse than average mental health, which may have to do with actual or perceived discrimination. Same-sex marriage legalization (SSML) is a typical anti-discrimination policy removing marital restrictions for sexual minorities. We study how this legislation affected...

We investigate whether exposure to immigrant peers at school affects natives' future interactions with ethnic minorities. Identification is based on variation in immigrant exposure across cohorts within school catchment areas in Sweden. We document that natives respond to immigrants by changing...