Researchers have found important linkages between higher marital and family stability, reduced child poverty, and healthier outcomes for children. Given these relationships, the decline in the share of children living with both of their biological parents in the last several decades is a matter of serious concern. At the same time, the economy is witnessing a decline in job stability, especially among young workers, thus limiting their ability to marry and support families. In considering whether the declines in job and marital stability are related, it is important to recognize that causation may run in two directions. While success in jobs may encourage the formation and stability of marriages, marriage (or anticipated marriage) may lead to improved job market outcomes. This study proposes to examine the connections between employment instability, occupational status, and marital instability in a dynamic, simultaneous framework. We will analyze the entire sequence of annual job and marriage outcomes among young men by asking: 1) Do job stability, high wages, and the career advancement of young men promote marriage and marital stability? 2) What are the consequences of marriage and marital stability for achieving high levels of job stability and occupational success? 3) How do labor market shocks affect the career and marital pathways of young men? The study will improve our understanding of job and marital pathways and the linkages between them. It will also demonstrate how new econometric tools can estimate sequential job and marriage outcomes and how the results can be used to simulate the consequences of job market shocks for careers, marriage formation, and marital stability. This project is part of a research agenda to analyze the pathways of young adults, particularly the connections between job stability, occupational success, and marital/family stability. Future work will widen the scope of the analysis to cover parenting, training and schooling in more detail, and to examine early life cycle events and their consequences for young women.
| Ahituv, Avner; Lerman, Robert I (2007) How do marital status, work effort, and wage rates interact? Demography 44:623-47 |
