Premium
Divorce, Race, and Military Service: More Than Equal Pay and Equal Opportunity
Author(s) -
Teachman Jay D.,
Tedrow Lucky
Publication year - 2008
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.1741-3737.2008.00544.x
Subject(s) - military service , equal opportunity , race (biology) , service member , marital status , duty , active duty , demographic economics , social psychology , military personnel , inequality , service (business) , psychology , criminology , economics , demography , labour economics , sociology , political science , business , law , population , marketing , gender studies , mathematics , mathematical analysis
Several researchers have suggested that the persistently higher rate of divorce among Blacks may be due to hard‐to‐measure concepts such as culture or norms. To attack this problem, we use data from the NLSY‐79 to examine the risk of divorce among enlisted active‐duty military servicemen where economic differences and the negative effects of discrimination are minimized. Our results indicate that military service reduces the likelihood of marital dissolution among Blacks serving in the Army and that this finding is not likely the result of unobserved selectivity. We attribute the latter finding to the fact that the Army has a well‐defined career ladder for Blacks that fully integrates them into leadership positions providing role models and positive work environments that reduce stress associated with discrimination and promote stable marriages.