Job Quality Is Driving The Class Difference In Married Family Rates

Working class men used to be more likely than college educated men to be married with children. But in the late 1980s this trend flipped, with the share of working class men in married families dropping a staggering 25% over the next 40 years, compared to an 11% decrease for college educated men. What’s the driving force behind this difference? It turns out that the quality of a man’s job plays a significant role. In fact, a good wage, job stability, and access to benefits explained nearly 80% of the class difference in married family formation rates: After controlling for these variables the adjusted difference was only 1.78% between college educated and working class men.

by Sophie Anderson