The Rising Share of Nonmarital Births: Fertility Choices or Marriage Behavior?

Jo Anna Gray (), Jean Stockard () and Joe A. Stone ()
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Jo Anna Gray: University of Oregon Economics Department
Jean Stockard: University of Oregon Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management

University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers from University of Oregon Economics Department

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.

Keywords: fertility; illegitimacy ratio; marriage; nonmarital fertility ratio; nonmarital births (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J10 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-11-01
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