When Work Disappears: Manufacturing Decline and the Falling Marriage Market Value of Young Men
American Economic Review: Insights
vol. 1,
no. 2, September 2019
(pp. 161-78)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
We exploit the gender-specific components of large-scale labor demand shocks stemming from rising international manufacturing competition to test how shifts in the relative economic stature of young men versus young women affected marriage, fertility, and children's living circumstances during 1990–2014. On average, trade shocks differentially reduce employment and earnings of young adult males. Consistent with Becker's model of household specialization, shocks to males' relative earnings reduce marriage and fertility. Consistent with prominent sociological accounts, these shocks heighten male idleness and premature mortality, and raise the share of mothers who are unwed and the share of children living in below-poverty, single-headed households.Citation
Autor, David, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson. 2019. "When Work Disappears: Manufacturing Decline and the Falling Marriage Market Value of Young Men." American Economic Review: Insights, 1 (2): 161-78. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20180010Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- F16 Trade and Labor Market Interactions
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J23 Labor Demand
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
- L60 Industry Studies: Manufacturing: General
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination