@techreport{NBERw16161, title = "America's settling down: How
Better Jobs and Falling Immigration led to a Rise in Marriage,
1880 – 1930", author = "Tomas Cvrcek", institution = "National
Bureau of Economic Research", type = "Working Paper", series =
"Working Paper Series", number = "16161", year = "2010", month =
"July", URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w16161", abstract =
{The growing education and employment of women are usually cited
as crucial forces behind the decline of marriage since 1960.
However, both trends were already present between 1900 and 1960,
during which time marriage became increasingly widespread. This
early period differed from the post-1960 decades due to two
factors primarily affecting men, one economic and one
demographic. First, men’s improving labor market prospects made
them more attractive as marriage partners to women. Second,
immigration had a dynamic effect on partner search costs. Its
short-run effect was to fragment the marriage market, making it
harder to find a partner of