This research develops models of marriage markets and their interdependence with labor market and socioeconomic conditions. It examines trends in marriage, cohabitation, and divorce in the United States since the 1960s, and assesses the effects of changing labor market and marital opportunities on these trends. It focuses on the dramatic downswing in rates of marriage among young persons, particularly for blacks, a trend that includes not only greater delay in marriage but also increases in the proportion of persons who will never marry; as well as on increased marital disruption and cohabitation among unmarried persons. It examines the effects of the changing labor market opportunities of young adults, including the sharply increasing rates of joblessness for black youths and the gradually improving relative socioeconomic position. The research tests alternative arguments of how labor market trends have affected marriage, including those that stress the increased economic hardship of some men and those that stress the increased economic independence of women. This research is important in that it will serve to explain fundamental changes in the institution of marriage in American Society.
