Marriage and Divorce since World War II: Analyzing the Role of Technological Progress on the Formation of Households

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PSC Working Paper Series
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Marriage
Divorce
Cohabitation
Divorce rates
Marriage rates
Marital dissolution
Marital formation
Marital partners
Vital statistics
Married households
Single households
Single life
Married life
Marriage markets
Household size
Household structure
Living arrangements
Young adults
Leaving home
Decision to leave home
Technological progress
Technological innovation
Wages
Real wages
Household consumption
Market goods
Nonmarket goods
Household production
Household maintenance
Hours worked
Labor supply
Female labor force participation
Time use
Household allocations
Household decision making
Demography, Population, and Ecology
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Sociology
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Abstract

Since World War II there has been: (i) a rise in the fraction of time that married households allocate to market work, (ii) an increase in the rate of divorce, and (iii) a decline in the rate of marriage. It is argued here that labor-saving technological progress in the household sector can explain these facts. This makes it more feasible for singles to maintain their own home, and for married women to work. To address this question, a search model of marriage and divorce, which incorporates household production, is developed. An extension looks back at the prewar era.

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2008-05-23
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Greenwood, Jeremy and Nezih Guner. 2008. "Marriage and Divorce since World War II: Analyzing the Role of Technological Progress on the Formation of Households." PSC Working Paper Series PSC 08-01.
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