The Wife's Protector: A Quantitative Theory Linking Contraceptive Technology with the Decline in Marriage

Greenwood, Jeremy; Guner, Nezih; Kopecky, Karen

The Wife's Protector: A Quantitative Theory Linking Contraceptive Technology with the Decline in Marriage

Jeremy Greenwood, Nezih Guner and Karen Kopecky

Abstract: The 19th and 20th centuries saw a transformation in contraceptive technologies and their take up. This led to a sexual revolution, which witnessed a rise in premarital sex and out-of-wedlock births, and a decline in marriage. The impact of contraception on married and single life is analyzed here both theoretically and quantitatively. The analysis is conducted using a model where people search for partners. Upon ?nding one, they can choose between abstinence, marriage, and a premarital sexual relationship. The model is confronted with some stylized facts about premarital sex and marriage over the course of the 20th century. Some economic history is also presented.

Keywords: Age of marriage; contraceptive technology; history; never-married population; number of partners; out-of-wedlock births; premarital sex; singles. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-dge, nep-his and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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