Can Pro-Marriage Policies Work? An Analysis of Marginal Marriages

Arbeitspapier

Policies to promote marriage are controversial, and it is unclear whether they are successful. To analyze such policies, it is essential to distinguish between a marriage that is created by a marriage-promoting policy (marginal marriage) and a marriage that would have been formed even in the absence of a state intervention (average marriage). In this paper, we exploit the suspension of a cash-on-hand marriage subsidy in Austria to examine the differential behavior of marginal and average marriages. The announcement of this suspension led to an enormous marriage boom (plus 350 percent) among eligible couples that allows us to identify marginal marriages. Applying a difference-in-differences approach, we show that marginal marriages are surprisingly as stable as average marriages, but have fewer children and have them later in marriage. Notably, the children born to marginal marriages are similar in terms of health at birth.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Working Paper ; No. 1209

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse ; Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes ; National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs ; Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
• Subject: Marriage-promoting policies ; marriage subsidies ; marital instability ; divorce ; fertility ; Ehe ; Familienpolitik ; Wirkungsanalyse ; Fruchtbarkeit ; Österreich

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Frimmel, Wolfgang ; Halla, Martin ; Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Department of Economics
• (where): Linz
• (when): 2012

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/73615
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET