What predicts traditional attitudes to marriage?

This study, using data from 5,689 cohort members of the National Child Development Study, explores the impact of both structure of parenting family and contextual factors on attitudes towards marriage at age 33. Traditional attitudes to marriage were positively related to religiosity and negatively related to high non‐verbal skills in childhood and smoking or drinking in adulthood but were unrelated to the structure or background of parental family. The results also yielded some very interesting gender differences. For example, the presence of partner at age 33 significantly predicted traditional attitudes to marriage in women but not in men. In men, by contrast, it was the presence of children at age 33, the absence of qualifications and current low socio‐economic status that were associated with traditional attitudes to marriage. The implications of these findings on future family change are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Has the future of marriage arrived? A contemporary examination of gender, marriage, and psychological well-being

A long tradition of research and theory on gender, marriage, and mental health suggests that marital status is more important to men's psychological well-being than women's while marital quality is more important to women's well-being than men's. These beliefs rest largely on a theoretical and empirical foundation established in the 1970s, but, despite changes in gender and family roles, they have rarely been questioned. The present analysis of three waves of a nationally representative survey indicates that, with few exceptions, the effects of marital status, marital transitions, and marital quality on psychological well-being are similar for men and women. Further, for men and women, occupying an unsatisfying marriage undermines psychological well-being to a similar extent--and, in some cases, to a greater extent--than exiting marriage or being continually unmarried.     

Does patience matter in marriage stability? Some evidence from Italy

Time preferences can affect divorce probability by both affecting the quality of the match and affecting the spouses’ reactions to negative shocks. We analyse the relationship between time preferences and divorce decisions using data from the Italian Survey on Household Income and Wealth, which provides a measure of time preferences based on a hypothetical financial situation in which individuals have to decide how much money to give up in order to receive a certain amount of money immediately rather than in one year’s time. By controlling for a number of individual and family characteristics, we find that impatient individuals are more likely to experience divorce. The effect is robust to different specifications of our model and is not affected by reverse causality problems. We also find that the more risk averse individuals are, the less likely they are to experience divorce.     

Is there a ‘marriage premium’ for gay men?

It is well-known that married men earn more than comparable single men, with typical estimates of the male marriage premium in the range of 10–20%. Some research also finds that cohabiting men earn more than men not living with a female partner. This study uses data from the General Social Survey and the National Health and Social Life Survey to examine whether a similar premium accrues to gay men who live with a male partner and whether cohabiting gay men have different observable characteristics than non-cohabiting gay men. Controlling for observable characteristics, cohabiting gay men do not earn significantly more than other gay men or more than unmarried heterosexual men. Cohabiting heterosexual men also do not earn more than non-cohabiting heterosexual men.

Patterns of delayed marriage: how special are the Irish?

"This paper deals with delayed marriage and singlehood among the Irish as a focus for the study of the persistence of ethnic characteristics. Patterns of delayed marriage in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are reviewed, and evidence is also presented that Irish persons in other countries (especially in the United States) continue to show significantly higher rates of singlehood and postponed marriage than persons of other nationality groups. Discussion includes how delayed marriage became common in Ireland during the past 150 years and what may be involved in the apparent persistence of this pattern today in Ireland and among the Irish in other countries."     

Does marriage affect men’s labor market outcomes? A European perspective

Does marriage make men more productive, or do more productive men marry? Previous studies have reached different conclusions but have also been conducted using different methodologies in different countries and in different time periods. We use two sources of European panel data (spanning the years 1994–2001 and 2003–2007) to assess the relationship between marriage and labor market outcomes. By using data from 12 countries over a 13 year period, we are able to investigate the impact of marriage in different country groups and across time. We find that selection into marriage accounts for most of the differences in hours worked and wages between married and non-married men. With respect to wages we note that while the difference between married and non-married males has increased over time, the actual effect of marriage has disappeared.     

“Like a marriage”: Partnering with peer mentors in child welfare

A growing number of child welfare programs have incorporated peer mentors – individuals in long-term recovery from substance use disorders – into their service delivery models. Whereas existing literature suggests the collaboration between peer mentors and child protective service workers brings both opportunities and challenges, few studies have described these experiences from the perspectives of mentors, caseworkers, and supervisors. Understanding how these team members experience partnership is critical for the further evaluation and development of mentor models in child welfare. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of mentors, caseworkers, and supervisors working through an integrated team model in Kentucky. A qualitative approach was used, combining a phenomenological lens with constructivist grounded theory analysis techniques. Our results indicate that successful partnerships between mentors, caseworkers, and supervisors involve four processes: sharing a common vision, developing working relationships, learning with open-mindedness, and identifying the benefits of partnership. These findings have implications for practitioners in a variety of child welfare settings, particularly those interested in developing and training teams for peer mentor integration.     

How do sex ratios in China influence marriage decisions and intra-household resource allocation?

This article examines how imbalanced sex ratios influence marriage decisions and household bargaining. Using data from the 1982 Chinese census, the traditional “availability ratio” is modified to reflect the degree to which men tend to marry women from different cohorts. This ratio reflects the average tendency of men to prefer women who are close in age to women who are several years younger than them by weighting cohort sizes using the proportion of people in the population who marry someone born in a different cohort. Given that men generally marry younger women, this ratio varies independently of the size of one’s own birth cohort. Yet, the ratio fluctuates considerably across individuals, as the sizes of birth cohorts in China vary across time and regions. This enables us to examine how variability in such ratios may influence marriage decisions and household bargaining. The findings suggest that women exercise greater bargaining power once married. Results indicate that as women become scarcer in the marriage market, they have healthier sons. Men also delay marriage, and consume less tobacco and alcohol. This paper also highlights how sensitive findings may be to using this modified weighted availability ratio rather than a traditional unweighted availability ratio.     

Engagement, but for what kind of marriage?: community members and local planning authorities

In recent years there has been an international trend to encouragegreater participation by community members in making decisionsover local developments. A small study of the experiences ofcommunity activists residing in the City of Moreland (Australia)indicates that existing political and economic structures areneither flexible nor supportive of greater, substantive, democracy.Indeed the kinds of barriers reported at the grassroots suggestthat deep reforms in the traditional patterns of engagementbetween political and bureaucratic authorities and neighbourhoodcommunities are necessary in order to enhance the power of communitymembers. This analysis of community engagement practices drawsa parallel between the multi-various scales of struggles necessitatedfor women's liberation and the breadth of reforms necessaryfor neighbourhood residents to achieve greater power in decisionmaking over local developments.     

Why still marry? The role of feelings in the persistence of marriage as an institution1

Despite cohabitation becoming increasingly equivalent to marriage in some of the most ‘advanced’ Western European societies, the vast majority of people still marry. Why so? Existing theories, mostly based on various approaches tied to cognitive decision‐making, do not provide a sufficient explanation of the persistence of marriage. In this article, we argue that feelings attached to marriage, i.e. the affective evaluation of those involved in a partner relationship concerning marriage as opposed to cohabitation, explain the persistent importance of marriage as an institution. We argue that socialization, biological and social‐structural factors affect these affective evaluations. We provide a test of our hypotheses using a longitudinal study of young adults in the Netherlands. The results of our analyses are consistent with a central role of feelings in the decision to marry, as well as with a role for key moderating factors such as gender.     

Does the positive relationship between health and marriage reflect protection or selection? Evidence from middle-aged and elderly Japanese

This study investigates the marriage protection and selection effects among middle-aged and elderly Japanese. Using 9 years of a longitudinal data set from a nationally representative survey in Japan from 2005 to 2013, we extract 15,242 respondents aged 50–59 years in the baseline year. We utilize positive self-rated health to present subjective health status and lifestyle diseases to present objective health status. Using dynamic panel data approach to control for endogeneity issue, we find that being married does protect respondents’ subjective health, in terms of a higher probability of self-ratings of “very good” or “good” health statuses. Nonetheless, we find that marriage deteriorated their objective health in terms of a higher probability of having lifestyle diseases. Regarding the selection effect, better subjective health is found to select middle-aged and elderly Japanese into marriage, but such influence is fairly modest. Although objective health status also selects respondents into marriage, it positively affects women but adversely affects men. The findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between marriage and health, which may have substantial implications for health-related public policies for middle-aged and elderly people in Japan.     

Does (mixed‐)race matter? The role of race in interracial sex,dating, and marriage

Though sociologists have long focused on the role of race as a dynamic in romantic and sexual relationships, there is currently limited research on the experiences of mixed‐race people and the ways their racial identities may be influencing how people navigate race and/or ethnicity as part of these intimate relationships. Due to the increase in the number of Americans—in both opposite‐sex and same‐sex relationships—reporting partners of a different race or ethnic background between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, race, and intimacy remain at the forefront of mainstream social concerns. However, research exploring how multiracial people—a rapidly growing population—fit in these trends is underrepresented. In this review, I discuss the existing research on race, dating, and marriage, particularly the meanings attached to interracial relationships in an online era. I also assess how recent research has begun to discuss the impact of mixed‐race identity on intimate relationships both online and offline.     

A special kind of married man: notions of marriage and married men in the Swedish gay press, 1954–1986

There has long been ambivalence in the LGBT movement and related research as to the meaning of gay identity in relation to marriage. The article explores changing homonormative discourses of marriage and married men within the Swedish gay press from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s. Expressions of the changes are a shift in language and in views of extramarital relationships, openness, and gay male identity. As a result of the shift, “married men,” including both “married homosexuals” and “bisexuals,” came to be distinguished from “gays.”     

‘I myself had a sweetie …’: re‐thinking female same‐sex intimacy beyond the institution of marriage and identity politics

This article is understood as an intervention into current debates around the question of rights in relation to sexuality and in particular to issues of same‐sex marriages and alternative family structures. As the interpretation of rights in relation to sexuality generally focuses on gay identities, this article reflects on the effects of these discourses on non‐normative modes of sexuality and intimacy. More specifically the article focuses on interviews conducted in Johannesburg on ‘mummy–baby’ relationships. By contextualising these relationships in the historical and cultural framework of sexual cultures and cultures of intimacy, this article argues that the South African history and cultures provided and provide a space which accommodates forms of female same‐sex intimacy that are not necessarily linked to metropolitan sexual cultures. The article discusses the tensions between non‐lesbian same‐sex intimacy and metropolitan lesbianism by focusing on homosociality as a gender theory. The article questions the regulatory functions of identity and problematises the practice of ‘coming out’ as always being a liberating moment.