Accounting for the Stowdown in the Divorce Rate in the 1980s:A Bargaining Perspective

Abstract

The impact of womens increased economic independence on the recent slowdown in the divorce rate in the United States is examined. In this paper I contend that some aspects of the economic independence perspective are still salient for the (I will also refer to this line of argument as the bargaining perspective.)....The paper begins with an overview of bargaining theories and their implications for divorce. It then identifies relevant economic variables which may be affecting the divorce rate from the late 1960s to late I survey trends in these variables discussing the institutional changes underlying these patterns and I identify which factors may be contributing to the leveling off of the divorce rate in the 1980s. (EXCERPT)