PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Watson, Tara
AU  - McLanahan, Sara
TI  - Marriage Meets the Joneses
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.46.3.482
DP  - 2011 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 482--517
VI  - 46
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/46/3/482.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/46/3/482.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2011 Jul 01; 46
AB  - This paper investigates the effect of relative income on marriage. Accounting flexibly for absolute income, the ratio between a man’s income and a local reference group median is a strong predictor of marital status, but only for low-income men. Relative income affects marriage even among those living with a partner. A 10 percent higher reference group income is associated with a 2 percent reduction in marriage. We propose an identity model to explain the results.