Cohabitation, Child Development, and College Costs

Effrosyni Adamopoulou, Anne Hannusch (), Karen A. Kopecky () and Tim Obermeier ()
Additional contact information
Anne Hannusch: University of Bonn
Karen A. Kopecky: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Tim Obermeier: University of Leicester

No 18237, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: US college-educated couples with children marry at higher rates than those without a college degree. We argue that marriage, which entails lower separation risk and more equitable asset division if separation occurs, provides insurance to the lower-earning spouse, facilitating child investment. Investing in children is more valuable for college-educated couples, who are more likely to send their children to college. Using an OLG model of marriage, cohabitation, wealth accumulation, and educational investments where college is costly and completion is risky, we find that high college costs reduce incentives to marry among couples without a college degree. These differences in union choice by education heighten differences in children’s educational attainment and reduce intergenerational mobility.

Keywords: college costs; human capital accumulation; child development; marriage; cohabitation; intergenerational mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D15 E24 J12 J22 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dge and nep-lma
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Related works:
Working Paper: Cohabitation, Child Development, and College Costs (2025)
Working Paper: Cohabitation, Child Development, and College Costs (2025)
Working Paper: Cohabitation, Child Development, and College Costs (2025)
Working Paper: Cohabitation, child development, and college costs (2025)
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