In Sickness and in Health: Interaction Effects of State and Federal Health Insurance Coverage Mandates on Marriage of Young Adults

Scott Barkowski and Joanne Song McLaughlin

Journal of Human Resources, 2022, vol. 57, issue 2, 637-688

Abstract: We study the interaction of state and federal dependent health insurance mandates on young adult marriages. Using a new data set on state-level mandates, we show marriage restrictions of these laws reduced marriage likelihoods by about two percentage points. When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted, its mandate ended marriage restrictions, encouraging marriage among those previously eligible for state mandates. However, among those ineligible for state mandates, it discouraged marrying to obtain insurance through spouses. The combination of these contrasting ACA effects eliminated the marriage gap. We also find these marriage effects resulted in corresponding impacts on out-of-wedlock births.

JEL-codes: H75 I13 I18 J12 J13 J18 K0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.57.2.0118-9295R2
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Related works:
Working Paper: In Sickness and in Health: The Influence of State and Federal Health Insurance Coverage Mandates on Marriage of Young Adults in the USA (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:57:y:2022:i:2:p:637-688

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