Internet access and partnership formation in the United States

Figures & data

Table 1 Partnership state and Internet access, United States, 2003–11 (NLSY97 cohort)

	In a different-sex partnership		In a same-sex partnership		Total in a partnership		Access to Internet		Access to Internet at home
Year	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
2003	1,508	27.4	36	0.7	1,544	28.0	4,450	80.7	3,388	61.5
2004	1,957	35.5	39	0.7	1,996	36.2	4,409	80.0	3,352	60.8
2005	2,342	42.5	48	0.9	2,390	43.4	4,507	81.8	3,475	63.0
2006	2,705	49.1	60	1.1	2,765	50.2	4,640	84.2	3,625	65.8
2007	3,037	55.1	68	1.2	3,105	56.3	4,745	86.1	3,806	69.0
2008	3,311	60.1	76	1.4	3,387	61.4	4,547	82.5	3,952	71.7
2009	3,519	63.8	74	1.3	3,593	65.2	4,593	83.3	–	–
2010	3,732	67.7	77	1.4	3,809	69.1	4,651	84.4	–	–
2011	3,866	70.1	84	1.5	3,950	71.6	4,804	87.1	–	–

N = 5,513.

Source: NLSY97 data.

Table 2 Control variables used in analysis of NLSY97 cohort, United States, 2003–11

Time-constant variables
% female	52.6
Race (%)
White	49.5
Black	27.0
Hispanic	20.0
Other	3.6
Parents’ education (%)
Less than high school	16.5
High school diploma	33.8
More than high school	49.7
Family income 1997, average USD	46,427
Time-varying variables
Year	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Mean age	20.9	21.9	22.9	23.9	24.8	25.8	26.7	27.8	28.7
Region (%)
North East	16.2	16.0	15.6	15.5	15.3	15.3	15.2	15.5	15.4
North Central	23.4	23.2	23.0	22.7	22.3	22.1	21.9	21.8	21.8
South	38.5	38.9	39.3	39.2	39.7	39.7	40.1	40.1	39.9
West	21.9	22.0	22.1	22.6	22.6	22.8	22.7	22.7	22.9
% urban	78.8	80.6	81.3	80.9	80.9	81.3	80.9	79.0	78.9
Level of education (%)
Less than high school	20.5	18.3	18.0	17.8	17.6	17.6	17.5	17.4	17.3
High school diploma	73.3	69.0	63.1	58.0	52.9	50.5	48.8	47.2	46.2
Some college	2.2	4.2	5.2	5.8	6.4	6.6	7.0	7.4	7.7
College degree or more	3.9	8.6	13.7	18.3	23.1	25.3	26.8	28.0	28.8
% enrolled in school	38.1	31.1	25.4	20.3	16.5	15.0	14.5	13.7	12.2
Income from job past year, average USD (if working)	10,344	13,120	15,833	18,919	22,786	26,230	29,087	30,727	33,026
Weeks unemployed per year, average (if > 0)	11.2	11.4	10.7	10.6	10.6	12.5	17.1	18.5	17.6
Number of children in the household, average	0.28	0.35	0.43	0.51	0.59	0.68	0.75	0.84	0.91

N = 5,513.

Source: Authors’ analysis of NLSY97 data.

Figure 1 Predicted probability of being in a partnership by Internet access by year (age) of the NLSY97 cohort, United States

Note: Vertical bars show 95 per cent confidence intervals.

Source: NLSY97 data.

Table 3 Multilevel multinomial logistic regression models of partnership, NLSY97 cohort, United States

Dependent variable = In a partnership (ref: Not in a partnership)	Different-sex partnership Odds ratio (standard error)			Same-sex partnership Odds ratio (standard error)
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(1)	(2)	(3)
Internet access	0.632***	1.039	0.184***	0.698**	1.112	0.149***
	(0.058)	(0.091)	(0.065)	(0.102)	(0.168)	(0.106)
Age	7.855***	6.107***	4.859***	7.262***	6.348***	4.467***
	(0.421)	(0.345)	(0.493)	(0.660)	(0.595)	(0.859)
Age^2	0.946***	0.953***	0.955***	0.947***	0.952***	0.963***
	(0.003)	(0.004)	(0.007)	(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.013)
Internet access × Age	–	–	1.352***	–	–	1.563**
			(0.150)			(0.335)
Internet access × Age^2	–	–	0.997	–	–	0.985
			(0.008)			(0.015)
Female	3.678***	2.863***	3.253***	3.038***	3.321***	3.766***
	(0.581)	(0.420)	(0.389)	(0.543)	(0.570)	(0.561)
Race (ref: White)
Black	0.032***	0.005***	0.006***	0.039***	0.007***	0.007***
	(0.007)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.009)	(0.002)	(0.001)
Hispanic	0.654**	0.317***	0.338***	0.692*	0.345***	0.369***
	(0.123)	(0.056)	(0.055)	(0.151)	(0.074)	(0.075)
Other	0.020***	0.025***	0.032***	0.013***	0.015***	0.019***
	(0.011)	(0.007)	(0.008)	(0.009)	(0.006)	(0.008)
Region (ref: North East)
North Central	6.135***	2.213***	1.916***	2.473***	0.915	0.795
	(1.496)	(0.400)	(0.341)	(0.681)	(0.202)	(0.174)
South	4.494***	3.210***	2.831***	2.143***	1.564**	1.382*
	(0.795)	(0.466)	(0.406)	(0.444)	(0.283)	(0.248)
West	3.693***	2.566***	2.372***	1.656**	1.126	1.041
	(0.702)	(0.385)	(0.356)	(0.378)	(0.220)	(0.204)
Urban area	1.244**	1.269***	1.240**	2.127***	2.019***	1.978***
	(0.114)	(0.112)	(0.107)	(0.330)	(0.311)	(0.302)
Enrolled in school	–	0.319***	0.313***	–	0.402***	0.391***
		(0.032)	(0.027)		(0.061)	(0.056)
Level of education (ref: < High school)
High school diploma	–	0.335***	0.383***	–	0.281***	0.320***
		(0.054)	(0.063)		(0.055)	(0.064)
Some college	–	0.474***	0.507***	–	0.194***	0.207***
		(0.102)	(0.115)		(0.063)	(0.069)
College degree or more	–	0.296***	0.275***	–	0.131***	0.122***
		(0.076)	(0.058)		(0.040)	(0.032)
Parents’ education (ref: < High school)
High school diploma	–	0.899	0.943	–	0.466***	0.490***
		(0.150)	(0.163)		(0.098)	(0.106)
More than high school	–	0.279***	0.291***	–	0.258***	0.269***
		(0.053)	(0.053)		(0.059)	(0.059)
Family income in 1997 (ref: 1st quintile)
2nd quintile	–	1.606**	1.488**	–	3.581***	3.334***
		(0.343)	(0.283)		(0.953)	(0.823)
3rd quintile	–	1.369	1.482*	–	1.417	1.542
		(0.304)	(0.304)		(0.415)	(0.432)
4th quintile	–	0.932	1.044	–	0.969	1.092
		(0.244)	(0.226)		(0.317)	(0.318)
5th quintile	–	0.113***	0.121***	–	0.211***	0.227***
		(0.029)	(0.026)		(0.067)	(0.063)
Income missing	–	0.299***	0.240***	–	0.560**	0.451***
		(0.075)	(0.051)		(0.164)	(0.118)
Log of income from job past year	–	1.080***	1.081***	–	1.047***	1.049***
		(0.011)	(0.011)		(0.016)	(0.017)
Weeks unemployed per year	–	0.997	0.997	–	1.008	1.008
		(0.003)	(0.003)		(0.005)	(0.005)
Number of children in household	–	6.988***	7.284***	–	3.001***	3.130***
		(0.498)	(0.509)		(0.293)	(0.302)
Constant	0.000***	0.000***	0.001***	0.000***	0.000***	0.000***
	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)
Random intercept variance	27.9	28.1	28.1	27.9	28.1	28.1
	(0.716)	(0.755)	(0.756)	(0.716)	(0.755)	(0.756)
N	49,617 (5,513 individuals over nine years)

* p<0.10, ** p<0.05, *** p<0.01.

Source: As for Table 2.

Figure 2 Predicted probability of being in a partnership by Internet access and age (CPS), United States, pooled data from 1997 to 2015

Note: Vertical bars show 95 per cent confidence intervals.

Source: CPS data.

Table 4 Multinomial logistic regression models of partnership, CPS data, United States, 1997–2015

Dependent variable = In a partnership (ref: Not in a partnership)	Different-sex partnership Odds ratio (standard error)			Same-sex partnership Odds ratio (standard error)
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(1)	(2)	(3)
Internet access	2.488***	1.699***	1.390***	3.661***	2.477***	0.041***
	(0.016)	(0.013)	(0.073)	(0.262)	(0.187)	(0.022)
Age	1.106***	1.053***	1.048***	1.172***	1.178***	1.038*
	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.002)	(0.012)	(0.013)	(0.022)
Age^2	0.999***	1.000***	1.000***	0.998***	0.998***	0.999***
	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)
Internet access × Age	–	–	1.001	–	–	1.169***
			(0.002)			(0.029)
Internet access × Age^2	–	–	1.000***	–	–	0.999***
			(0.000)			(0.000)
Female	0.375***	0.344***	0.345***	0.783***	0.843***	0.843***
	(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.037)	(0.040)	(0.040)
Race (ref: White)
Black	0.512***	0.510***	0.508***	0.236***	0.327***	0.325***
	(0.005)	(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.027)	(0.037)	(0.037)
Hispanic	1.337***	1.229***	1.216***	0.627***	0.946	0.917
	(0.014)	(0.015)	(0.015)	(0.058)	(0.090)	(0.087)
Asian	1.293***	1.293***	1.305***	0.385***	0.405***	0.414***
	(0.024)	(0.026)	(0.026)	(0.065)	(0.069)	(0.070)
American Indian	0.729***	0.696***	0.691***	0.611	0.79	0.791
	(0.021)	(0.022)	(0.022)	(0.188)	(0.243)	(0.243)
Other/Mixed	0.929***	0.973	0.976	0.692**	0.82	0.827
	(0.020)	(0.023)	(0.023)	(0.125)	(0.148)	(0.149)
Metro area (ref: Not in metro area)
Central city	0.566***	0.545***	0.546***	1.866***	1.418***	1.432***
	(0.005)	(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.164)	(0.127)	(0.128)
Outside central city	0.952***	0.777***	0.777***	1.274***	1.013	1.014
	(0.008)	(0.007)	(0.007)	(0.112)	(0.090)	(0.090)
Missing/Unknown	0.868***	0.813***	0.813***	1.243**	1.107	1.11
	(0.008)	(0.008)	(0.008)	(0.109)	(0.098)	(0.098)
Level of education (ref: < High school)
High school diploma	–	0.981*	0.971***	–	0.865	0.851
		(0.010)	(0.010)		(0.110)	(0.108)
Some college	–	0.772***	0.765***	–	1.032	1.018
		(0.008)	(0.008)		(0.128)	(0.126)
College degree or more	–	0.649***	0.643***	–	1.246*	1.238*
		(0.008)	(0.008)		(0.155)	(0.154)
Family income in 1997 (ref: < $25,000)
$25,000–49,999	–	2.361***	2.355***	–	1.474***	1.471***
		(0.020)	(0.020)		(0.122)	(0.122)
$50,000–74,999	–	4.385***	4.385***	–	2.278***	2.268***
		(0.045)	(0.045)		(0.199)	(0.199)
$75,000 and over	–	8.764***	8.789***	–	5.249***	5.157***
		(0.098)	(0.098)		(0.428)	(0.422)
Missing	–	2.362***	2.369***	–	0.998	0.997
		(0.027)	(0.027)		(0.144)	(0.143)
Weekly earnings, current job	–	1.000***	1.000***	–	1.000***	1.000***
		(0.000)	(0.000)		(0.000)	(0.000)
Continuous weeks unemployed	–	1.000	1.000	–	1.006***	1.006***
		(0.000)	(0.000)		(0.002)	(0.002)
Number of children in household	–	1.916***	1.914***	–	0.676***	0.665***
		(0.007)	(0.007)		(0.026)	(0.025)
Constant	0.252***	0.274***	0.335***	0.000***	0.000***	0.002***
	(0.009)	(0.011)	(0.016)	(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.001)
N	619,158

* p<0.10, ** p<0.05, *** p<0.01.

Note: All the specifications include US state and year fixed effects.

Source: Authors’ analysis of CPS data.