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Title: Propensity to Marry and Heterogeneity in the Health Benefits of Marriage
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Tumin, Dmitry
Zheng, Hui
Propensity to Marry and Heterogeneity in the Health Benefits of Marriage
Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Depression (see also CESD); Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Heterogeneity; Marriage; Propensity Scores

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Marriage is associated with good health, but the protective effect of marriage varies widely, such that some people experience substantial health benefits from marriage and others experience no benefit. Our study explores if the marriage effect on health is moderated by the likelihood of marrying. Using propensity score methods, we test for heterogeneity in the marriage effect on self-rated health and a scale of depressive symptoms in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 cohort. We find only modest differences in the marriage effect between the married and the unmarried, and no evidence that the marriage effect is positively or negatively associated with the propensity to marry. Our findings suggest that when the likelihood of marriage is defined as a composite of many early-life factors, it does not substantially moderate the health benefits of marriage, contradicting the hypothesis that the same factors discouraging marriage also make marriage less beneficial.
Bibliography Citation
Tumin, Dmitry and Hui Zheng. "Propensity to Marry and Heterogeneity in the Health Benefits of Marriage." Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014.