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Incarceration and the Formation and Stability of Marital Unions
Author(s) -
Lopoo Leonard M.,
Western Bruce
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00165.x
Subject(s) - imprisonment , national longitudinal surveys , prison , demography , marital status , demographic economics , longitudinal study , survey data collection , educational attainment , longitudinal data , cohabitation , psychology , sociology , political science , criminology , economics , population , medicine , economic growth , law , statistics , mathematics , pathology
Rising imprisonment rates and declining marriage rates among low‐education African Americans motivate an analysis of the effects of incarceration on marriage. An event history analysis of 2,041 unmarried men from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth suggests that men are unlikely to marry in the years they serve in prison. A separate analysis of 2,762 married men shows that incarceration during marriage significantly increases the risk of divorce or separation. We simulate aggregate marriage rates using estimates from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and find that the prevalence of marriage would change little if incarceration rates were reduced.