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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

first marriage, economic outcomes, marriage decision, relationship

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Economics

Abstract

Research has consistently found that marriage is associated with a number of positive economic, social and health outcomes (Korenman and Neumark, 1991; Loh, 1996). However, despite the many observed benefits of marriage at a point in time, there is a general belief that economic outcomes will be even higher if young adults wait until they are older to get married. This has led to a dramatic increase over the last decade in the average age of first marriage. Census data shows that the median age of first marriage in the United States United States from 1971 to 2011 increased dramatically from 23.1 to 28.7 years for men and from 20.9 to 26.5 for women.

Included in

Economics Commons

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