ABSTRACT
Marriage and marital parenting provide incomparable gifts to all human societies. Building a marriage, rearing children, maintaining a home—all take effort and sacrifice. The marital bond can also bring disappointment and sorrow. Drawing on nationally representative data collected between 1968 and 1992, Cornell and University of Washington scholars find a very strong linkage between marital status and income, showing a "substantial marital effect on the likelihood of experiencing one or more years of affluence during the life course. In a study initially focused on the mental-health effects of work environment, researchers discovered that for both men and women marital status actually predicts resistance to depression more reliably than does the quality of work environment. Women who live with partners in non-marital arrangements expose themselves to real risk. The new family model based on economic androgyny translates into low fertility and marital instability.
