Full Citation

Title: Women's Income and Marriage Markets in the United States: Evidence from the Civil War Pension

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2017

ISBN:

ISSN: 14716372

DOI: 10.1017/S0022050717000067

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Under the Civil War pension act of 1862, Union Army widows were entitled to pensions; however, they lost these pensions if they remarried. Using a database compiled from widows' pension files, I estimate the effect this had on widows' remarriage decisions. I find that receiving a pension lowered the hazard rate of remarriage by 25 percent, which implies an increase in the median time to remarriage of 3.5 years. Among older women, the effect is greater. These results suggest that many Union Army widows faced highly unfavorable marriage prospects.

Url: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/womens-income-and-marriage-markets-in-the-united-states-evidence-from-the-civil-war-pension/B60892B048CE7EB23CC3EAB2FF511535

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Salisbury, Laura

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education, Family and Marriage, Gender

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