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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Til Recession Do Us Part: Booms, Busts, And Divorce In The United States, Abdur Chowdhury
Til Recession Do Us Part: Booms, Busts, And Divorce In The United States, Abdur Chowdhury
Economics Faculty Research and Publications
A general hypothesis regarding the impact of permanent income levels and business cycle fluctuations on divorce rate at the state level in the United States is analysed in this article. Based on the data for 45 states over the sample period of 1978–2009, it is shown that the higher the level of transitory income, the higher the incidence of divorce. In other words, divorce is pro-cyclical.
(Wp 2011-05) 'Til Recession Do Us Part: Booms, Busts, And Divorce In The United States, Abdur Chowdhury
(Wp 2011-05) 'Til Recession Do Us Part: Booms, Busts, And Divorce In The United States, Abdur Chowdhury
Economics Working Papers
A general hypothesis regarding the impact of permanent income levels and business cycle fluctuations on divorce rate at the state level in the United States is analyzed in the paper. Using data for 45 states over the 1978-2009 sample period, the paper shows that the higher the level of transitory income, the higher is the incidence of divorce. In other words, divorce is pro-cyclical. Why do divorce decrease during recession and increase during expansion? When an economy is in crisis and people’s incomes are low, the cost of divorce will prevent a couple from divorcing irrespective of the quality of …