MPIDR Working Paper

Transitions from home to marriage of young Americans

Abstract

The paper examines the impact of income on the transitions between home, living independently and first marriage of young Americans. A matching model is outlined, similar to that used in theories of job search, to explain the probability of marriage and living alone. A multiple state, multiple transition model which allows for correlated heterogeneity on the first and subsequent transitions is estimated. The result show that income has a strong and significant effect. The impact of unobserved heterogeneuty is examined in detail. The impact of the young person´s earning on the transitions is explored through simulation. (AUTHORS)