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

Jeremy Greenwood, Nezih Guner and Karen Kopecky

No 12760, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

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 finding 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: number of partners; never-married population; history; contraceptive technology; age of marriage; out-of-wedlock births; premarital sex; singles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J11 J12 N3 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 59 pages
Date: 2019-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dge, nep-his and nep-ore
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published in: A. Bison; F. Giovanni (eds.), Handbook of Historical Economics, Academic Press, 2021.

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Wife's Protector: A Quantitative Theory Linking Contraceptive Technology with the Decline in Marriage (2020)
Working Paper: The Wife's Protector: A Quantitative Theory Linking Contraceptive Technology with the Decline in Marriage (2019)
Working Paper: The Wife's Protector: A Quantitative Theory Linking Contraceptive Technology with the Decline in Marriage (2019)
Working Paper: The Wife's Protector: A Quantitative Theory Linking Contraceptive Technology with the Decline in Marriage (2019)
Working Paper: The Wife’s Protector: A Quantitative Theory Linking Contraceptive Technology with the Decline in Marriage (2019)
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