![]() Social scientists have long posited a relationship between economic opportunity and marriage. However, it is also likely that the combination of declines in marriage and declines in economic opportunity have contributed to worse outcomes for some people, and especially for some children. ![]() Delayed marriage contributes, in part, to the decline in the number of people married at a given time (see Stevenson and Wolfers 2007). These marriages starting later in life appear more stable and are less likely to end in divorce-a better outcome from any perspective. In particular, many Americans are waiting longer to get married due to opportunities for women to pursue careers outside the home, due to better control over the timing of childbearing, and due to the ability to be more selective when choosing a spouse. economy needs to create in order to return to pre-recession employment levels while also absorbing the 125,000 people who enter the labor force each month.Ĭontrary to much of the hype around the decline in marriage, there are positive outcomes worth noting. Rather than focusing on changing values, a more effective approach to addressing both poverty and marriage may be to improve economic opportunities for all Americans, particularly for low-skilled, less-educated workers.Īs we explore the consequences of the changing economy, we also continue to explore the “jobs gap,” or the number of jobs that the U.S. One of the most important reasons we care about marriage is because of the clear association between marriage and poverty: women and children in single-parent households are at particular risk for living in poverty and indeed family earnings for half of the nation’s children have been falling over time. A large body of evidence links the decline in employment and earnings for less-skilled workers to globalization, technological change, and changes in labor market institutions-changes beyond the ability of individuals to control no matter what their values are. This argument ignores well-documented changes in demand that have caused the earnings of many Americans to decline. The decline in marriage is concentrated among these very same Americans. Charles Murray’s new book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010, argues that the decline in marriage, and the concurrent decline in work, is the product of changes in values or social norms that have eroded both industriousness and marital values. The causes of this trend and the consequences for Americans’ well-being are naturally the subject of much debate. In past months, The Hamilton Project has examined long-term trends in earnings for men and women, and the consequences of these trends for families and children. This month we continue to explore the relationship between economic trends and American families.įewer Americans are married today than at any point in at least 50 years. ![]() Employer payrolls increased by 243,000 jobs in January-and an average of 201,000 jobs over the last three months-with the private sector again leading the way with 257,000 additional jobs. Although still too high, the unemployment rate ticked down from 8.5 percent to 8.3 percent in January. Today’s employment report provided hopeful signals that momentum is continuing to develop in the labor market. The unemployment rate continued to edge down and expansions in employer payrolls continued to grow.
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