Full Citation

Title: Labor Supply, Household Production, and Common Law Marriage Legislation

Citation Type: Book, Section

Publication Year: 2014

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Does the availability of Common Law Marriage (CLM henceforth) in the U.S. help explain variation in the labor force participation, hours of work, hours of household production and leisure time of men and women over time and across states? Using Current Population Survey data for the period 1995-2011 this chapter identifies CLM effects on labor supply given that 3 of the 50 states abolished CLM over the period examined, whereas 11 states still had CLM laws as of 2011. Labor supply effects of CLM availability are negative for married women: for instance, weekly hours of work are reduced by almost two weekly hours. This CLM effect is limited to white and Hispanic married women and doesnt apply to their black counterparts. White married mens full-time employment is unaffected by CLM but black married men are 10% less likely to work full time if CLM is available. Marriage market analysis based on the concept of Work-In-Household (explained in Chap. 2) helps explain gender differentials in the effects of CLM on labor supply and why for blacks these differentials go in directions opposite from their effects for whites. The abolition of CLM could help explain some of the gender convergence in labor supply that has been observed in recent decades.

Url: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-1623-4_7

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Grossbard, Shoshana

Editors:

Pages: 89-114

Volume Title: The Marriage Motive: A Price Theory of Marriage

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Publisher Location: New York

Volume:

Edition:

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS, IPUMS Time Use - ATUS

Topics: Family and Marriage, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

Countries: