Open AccessMarriage Meets the Joneses
Author(s) -
Tara Watson,
Sara McLanahan
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the journal of human resources/the journal of human resources
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.855
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1548-8004
pISSN - 0022-166X
DOI - 10.3368/jhr.46.3.482
Subject(s) - keeping up with the joneses , economics , business , microeconomics , growth model
This paper investigates the effect of relative income on marriage. Accounting flexibly for absolute income, the ratio between a man's income and a local reference group median is a strong predictor of marital status, but only for low-income men. Relative income affects marriage even among those living with a partner. A ten percent higher reference group income is associated with a two percent reduction in marriage. We propose an identity model to explain the results.