Doctoral Dissertation Research: Wealth and the Propensity to Marry

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1028874 PI: Sara M. McLanahan Co-PI: Daniel J. Schneider Institution: Princeton University This study uses quantitative analyses of multiple data sets to chart changes in the timing of wealth acquisition and marriage across cohorts. It estimates how individuals' and potential partners' wealth holdings relate to propensity to marry. It examines if inequalities in wealth ownership by race and education may explain disparities in marriage entry by race and education. And, it leverages recent exogenous shifts in wealth holdings brought on by the economic crisis to generate better causal estimates of the link between wealth and marriage. Broader Impacts: This research has the potential of informing us that reduced marriage may stem not from a lack of enthusiasm for marriage, but rather from structural constraints in the context of widely shared aspirations to marry. Additionally, family policy and asset policy have both been areas of recent activity but have largely stood as separate silos. The proposed research bridges these two important areas of policymaking.