Do State-Level Variables Affect Divorce Rates?

Concerns over the increasing divorce rate and the negative effects of divorce on the standard of living of women and their children have resulted in a growing body of literature on both the causes and consequences of divorce. While several studies discuss the determinants of divorce, few examine the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of social economy 1996-04, Vol.54 (1), p.47-65
Main Authors: Kate, Sweezy, Jill, Tiefenthaler
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AFDC
Analysis
Children
Conservatism
Divorce
Divorce law
Divorce rates
Divorced mothers
Economic aspects
Evaluation
event history analysis
Food stamp program
Food Stamps
Human capital
Law
Laws, regulations and rules
Marital property
Marriage
No fault divorces
Norms
Payments
Pregnancy
Property law
Public assistance programs
Religious Fundamentalism
Social economics
Social factors
State Society Relationship
USA
Welfare Recipients
Welfare Services
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Summary:Concerns over the increasing divorce rate and the negative effects of divorce on the standard of living of women and their children have resulted in a growing body of literature on both the causes and consequences of divorce. While several studies discuss the determinants of divorce, few examine the effects of state-level variables on individuals' decisions to divorce. In this study, state-level variables including AFDC and food stamp payments, property distribution laws, waiting periods, and two measures of conservatism are merged with a micro data set in order to examine the effects of these variables as well as individual-level variables on the probability of divorce. Event history analysis indicates that the effects of the individual-level variables are consistent with previous work. Among the state-level variables, only the percentage of regular church-goers and the percentage of fundamentalists in the state have a significant impact on divorce. These results reject notions that liberal divorce laws and generous AFDC payments encourage the breakup of families but support the hypothesis that social norms do influence individual behavior.
ISSN:0034-6764
1470-1162
DOI:10.1080/00346769600000002