’Til recession do us part: booms, busts and divorce in the United States

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• divorce
• business cycle
• Great Recession
• pro-cyclical

JEL Classification:

• E32
• J12

Notes