The Wife's Protector: A Quantitative Theory Linking Contraceptive Technology with the Decline in Marriage

• Jeremy Greenwood ^[1] ; Nezih Guner ^[2] ; Karen A. Kopecky ^[3]
  1. [1] University of Pennsylvania

     University of Pennsylvania

     City of Philadelphia, Estados Unidos

     
  2. [2] CEMFI
  3. [3] FRB Atlanta

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• Localización: Documentos de Trabajo ( CEMFI ), Nº. 12 (CEMFI Working Paper No. 1912, December 2019), 2019
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The 19th and 20th centuries saw a transformation in contraceptive technologies and their take up.

    This led to a sexual revolution, which witnessed a rise in premarital sex and out-of-wedlock births, and a decline in marriage. The impact of contraception on married and single life is analyzed here both theoretically and quantitatively. The analysis is conducted using a model where people search for partners. Upon ?nding one, they can choose between abstinence, marriage, and a premarital sexual relationship. The model is confronted with some stylized facts about premarital sex and marriage over the course of the 20th century. Some economic history is also presented.