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Title: Internet Access and Partnership Formation in the United States

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2019

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Abstract: Unlike older communication technologies, the internet has broadened the scope for social interaction and enabled people to meet and interact with people outside their existing social network. This feature of the technology is perhaps most salient for its role in helping people search for mates. While the internet may enlarge the pool of prospective partners, access to a larger pool may also delay the transition to partnership as the option for alternatives may induce individuals to search longer. We empirically examine this effect of the internet on both heterosexual and homosexual partnership formation using nationally-representative data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Current Population Survey from the US. We find that while the effect of the internet on the transition to partnership is negative at younger ages, the effect of the internet on increasing the propensity to partner becomes positive as individuals become older, for both homosexual and heterosexual partnerships.

Url: http://paa2019.populationassociation.org/uploads/190698

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Authors: Sironi, Maria; Kashyap, Ridhi

Conference Name: PAA 2019

Publisher Location: Austin, TX

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

Countries: United States