Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/333676 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 18237
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
US college-educated couples with children marry at higher rates than those without a college degree. We argue that marriage, which entails lower separation risk and more equitable asset division if separation occurs, provides insurance to the lower-earning spouse, facilitating child investment. Investing in children is more valuable for college-educated couples, who are more likely to send their children to college. Using an OLG model of marriage, cohabitation, wealth accumulation, and educational investments where college is costly and completion is risky, we find that high college costs reduce incentives to marry among couples without a college degree. These differences in union choice by education heighten differences in children's educational attainment and reduce intergenerational mobility.
Subjects: 
cohabitation
marriage
child development
human capital accumulation
college costs
intergenerational mobility
JEL: 
D15
E24
J12
J22
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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