The Rising Share of Nonmarital Births: Fertility Choices or Marriage Behavior?
Date
2004-11-01Author
Gray, Jo Anna
Stockard, Jean
Stone, Joe A. (Joe Allan), 1948-
Metadata
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Gray, Jo Anna
Stockard, Jean
Stone, Joe A. (Joe Allan), 1948-
Abstract
Much of the sharp rise in the share of nonmarital births in the United States has been attributed to changes in the fertility choices of unmarried and married women - in response, it is often argued, to various public policies. In contrast, we develop and test a model that attributes the rise to changes in marriage behavior, with no changes in fertility. A variety of empirical tests strongly supports this conclusion and invites focused attention to issues related to marriage behavior, as well as the interactions between marriage and fertility.