The Effect of Unilateral Divorce Laws on Marriage Outcomes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2348685 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kunwon Ahn (0000-0002-4307-8567, Korea Labor Institute, Sejong-si, Korea, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 1589-1617 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Family Issues (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0192-513X • E-ISSN: 1552-5481 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0192513x251356255 |
| OpenAlex | W4411931678 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 22 |
This study examines the impact of unilateral divorce laws on marriage outcomes using microdata from the 1960-1980 U.S. decennial censuses. We exploit the staggered state-level adoption of the laws and apply a difference-in-differences design that accounts for heterogeneous adoption timing to estimate their effects on marriage patterns. The findings provide evidence that the introduction of unilateral divorce laws lowers the likelihood of being married in certain age groups, but the effect is not uniform across age and gender. College-educated men are less likely to marry while college-educated women experience no significant change. The results indicate that the impact of unilateral divorce laws differs among racial groups. The effects are more pronounced for White individuals, whereas non-White individuals are barely affected across all age groups. These findings highlight the effects of unilateral divorce laws on marriage probabilities across demographic strata, emphasizing the importance of considering educational attainment and other population characteristics
Child custody · Criminology · Developmental psychology · Political science · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Law · Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges
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Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law
Is Making Divorce Easier Bad for Children? The Long‐Run Implications of Unilateral Divorce
Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects
Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing
Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods
Did Unilateral Divorce Laws Raise Divorce Rates? A Reconciliation and New Results
Divorce law and family formation
The long run consequences of unilateral divorce laws on children—evidence from SHARELIFE
An Economic Analysis of Marital Instability
The Impact of Divorce Laws on the Equilibrium in the Marriage Market
Marriage Market, Divorce Legislation, and Household Labor Supply
| Highly cited | No |
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