The Economics of Marriage

In the United States, more women are deciding to have children and remain single today than ever before. Almost half of all babies born in the U.S. were born to unmarried women in 2019, a dramatic increase since 1960, when only 5% of births were to unmarried mothers. This trend is not a direct result of divorce; today's unpartnered mothers are more likely never to be married.

But what does this trend mean for our future from an economic standpoint?

In a new book, "The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind," Dr. Melissa Kearney makes a provocative, data-driven case for marriage by arguing that the institution's decline has led to many economic issues. Eschewing the religious and values-based arguments that have long dominated this conversation, Kearney argues the most significant impacts of marriage are, in fact, economic: when two adults of any gender marry, their financial and household lives improve, offering a host of benefits not only for the married adults but for their children as well. Her research focuses on single mothers, given their outsize number compared to single fathers.

On November 8, the Gardner Institute hosted Dr. Kearney at our monthly newsmaker breakfast for an in-depth discussion about her view on the underlying causes of marriage decline in the U.S. and how decision-makers can draw lessons from the data to help the country's future prosperity. The conversation was moderated by Adam Looney, director of the University of Utah's Marriner S. Eccles Institute for Economics and Quantitative Analysis. 

About the Author

Melissa S. Kearney is the Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. She is also the Director of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and a non-resident Senior Fellow at Brookings.

Kearney's academic research focuses on domestic policy issues, especially issues related to social policy, poverty, and inequality. Her work has been published in leading academic journals and is frequently cited in the popular press. She has testified before Congress on the topic of U.S. income inequality.

About the Moderator

Adam Looney is a professor in the Department of Finance and Executive Director of the Marriner S. Eccles Institute for Economics and Quantitative Analysis. Previously, he was the Joseph A. Pechman senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings and the Director of the Center on Regulation and Markets. While at Brookings, he has been called to testify in Congress by members of both parties on tax and student loan policy, and his research has influenced the development of federal tax policies and education reforms.

Mr. Looney returned to Brookings in 2017 after three years of service in the U.S. Treasury Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis. At Treasury, he advised the Secretary on economic issues related to tax policy, analyzed current and proposed legislation, and provided the official receipts forecasts and revenue estimates for the Administration’s budgets.