Technology and the Changing Family: a Unified Model of Marriage, Divorce Educational Attainment and Married Female Labor-Force Participation

  • BSE Working Paper: 110289 | September 15
  • Keywords: education , inequality , assortative mating , married female labor supply , household production , marriage and divorce
  • JEL codes: E13, J12, J22, O11
  • education
  • inequality
  • assortative mating
  • married female labor supply
  • household production
  • marriage and divorce
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Abstract

Marriage has declined since 1960, with the drop being bigger for non-college educated individuals versus college educated ones. Divorce has increased, more so for the non-college educated. Additionally, positive assortative mating has risen. Income inequality among households has also widened. A unified model of marriage, divorce, educational attainment and married female labor-force participation is developed and estimated to fit the postwar U.S. data. Two underlying driving forces are considered: technological progress in the household sector and shifts in the wage structure. The analysis emphasizes the joint role that educational attainment, married female labor-force participation, and assortative mating play in determining income inequality.

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