PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Neal, Derek TI - The Relationship Between Marriage Market Prospects and Never-Married Motherhood AID - 10.3368/jhr.XXXIX.4.938 DP - 2004 Oct 02 TA - Journal of Human Resources PG - 938--957 VI - XXXIX IP - 4 4099 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XXXIX/4/938.short 4100 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XXXIX/4/938.full SO - J Hum Resour2004 Oct 02; XXXIX AB - Many studies document a clear relationship between the supply of marriageable men and marriage rates, but few studies find that the supply of marriageable men affects the number of women who choose to be single mothers. The model presented here addresses this puzzle. Many women view either marriage or single motherhood as an inframarginal choice because a third option, remaining single without children, is relatively attractive to them. Regression models that implicitly treat all women as potential mothers, who simply choose whether to raise children inside or outside marriage, may yield false inferences concerning the relationship between marriage markets prospects and family structure choices.