Marriage dissolution among American men, 2003–2010: The roles of measured earnings and latent selection

Figures & data

Table 1. Variable definitions and sample means: N = 21,241

Variable	Definition	Remained married N = 20,655	Divorced/separated N = 586
PER_INC (t = 1)	Husband’s annual personal income ($): initial year (constant Year 2000 dollars)	64,886	59,634
EARN (t = 1)	Husband’s annual labor earnings ($): initial year (constant Year 2000 dollars)	54,888	51,786
AGE	Husband’s age	45.04	42.95
EDUC	Husband’s years education	13.66	13.51
UNION	=1 if husband was member of labor union;	0.135	0.043
	=0 otherwise
PROF_OCC	=1 if husband’s occupation is professional or managerial;	0.188	0.278
	=0 otherwise
DISAB	=1 if disability limits or prevents work;	0.020	0.027
	=0 otherwise
WHITE	=1 white;	0.878	0.828
	=0 if nonwhite
CHILD≤6	=1 if children aged 6 years or younger are present in household;	0.277	0.295
	=0 otherwise
FAM_SIZE	Total number of persons in family	3.45	3.67
OTH_INC	Total family income other than husband: initial year ($)	30,406	26,408
OWN_HOME	=1 if couple owns home outright or through mortgage;	0.876	0.800
	=0 otherwise

Table 2. Maximum likelihood estimates: N = 21,241 with 586 dissolutions

Variable	Husband’s log annual earnings	Divorced or separated
CONSTANT	0.172 (1.51)	−0.602 (3.10)
EDUC	0.086 (33.97)	0.023 (3.14)
AGE	0.099 (20.53)	−0.011 (6.16)
AGESQ/100	−0.001 (23.80)
DISAB	−0.886 (15.87)
Non WHITE	−0.103 (4.01)	0.098 (2.03)
UNION	0.483 (18.48)
PROF_OCC	0.234 (10.71)
OTH_INC		−0.0009 (1.55)
FAM_SIZE		0.048 (3.65)
CHILD≤6		−0.160 (3.59)
OWN_HOME		−0.150 (3.18)
YEAR1 = 2003		−0.449 (7.82)
YEAR1 = 2004		−0.578 (8.41)
YEAR1 = 2005		−0.496 (7.94)
YEAR1 = 2006		−0.507 (7.99)
YEAR1 = 2007		−0.552 (8.52)
YEAR1 = 2008		−0.462 (7.64)
YEAR1 = 2009		−0.407 (6.95)
Error covariance: ${\widehat{\mathit{\sigma }}}_{\mathit{\epsilon }\mathit{\omega }}$		0.366 (4.07)
EARN (t = 1): $\widehat{\mathit{\alpha }}$		−0.210 (4.00)

^* Figures in parentheses are absolute t statistics.

Table 3. Maximum likelihood estimates: N = 21,241 with 586 dissolutions

Variable	Husband’s log personal income	Divorced or separated
CONSTANT	0.334 (4.54)	−0.780 (3.41)
EDUC	0.109 (6.82)	0.043 (2.93)
AGE	0.102 (32.53)	−0.061 (3.32)
AGESQ/100	−0.001 (33.72)
DISAB	−0.685 (17.82)
Non WHITE	−0.156 (9.03)	0.098 (1.87)
UNION	0.334 (4.54)
PROF_OCC	0.319 (22.73)
OTH_INC		−0.001 (1.68)
FAM_SIZE		0.043 (2.93)
CHILD≤6		−0.161 (3.32)
OWN_HOME		−0.173 (3.39)
YEAR1 = 2003		−0.470 (7.56)
YEAR1 = 2004		−0.611 (8.23)
YEAR1 = 2005		−0.543 (7.87)
YEAR1 = 2006		−0.560 (7.99)
YEAR1 = 2007		−0.551 (7.99)
YEAR1 = 2008		−0.503 (7.57)
YEAR1 = 2009		−0.416 (6.54)
Error covariance: ${\widehat{\mathit{\sigma }}}_{\mathit{\epsilon }\mathit{\omega }}$		0.083 (1.75)
PER_INC (t = 1): $\widehat{\mathit{\alpha }}$		−0.154 (2.04)

^* Figures in parentheses are absolute t statistics.

Table 4. Estimates for alternative dependent variables

Parameter	Divorced or separated		Divorced**
	N = 21,241		N = 21,241
	Dissolutions = 586		Dissolutions = 471
	Dependent variable in Equation (1):		Dependent variable in Equation (1):
	Earnings	Personal income	Earnings	Personal income
Error covariance: ${\widehat{\mathit{\sigma }}}_{\mathit{\epsilon }\mathit{\omega }}$	0.366 (4.07)	0.083 (1.75)	0.356 (3.61)	0.077 (1.48)
EARN(t−1): $\widehat{\mathit{\alpha }}$ or PER_INC(t = 1): $\widehat{\mathit{\alpha }}$	−0.210 (4.00)	−0.154 (2.04)	−0.199 (3.47)	−0.141 (1.72)

^* Figures in parentheses are absolute t statistics.

^** Specifications of the earnings/income equations are identical to those in Tables 2 and 3. Full results are not reported here.