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Continuity and Change in Marital Quality Between 1980 and 2000

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Continuity and Change in Marital Quality Between 1980 and 2000 PAUL R. AMATO,DAVID R. JOHNSON,ALAN BOOTH, AND STACY J. ROGERS The Pennsylvania State University l Continuity and Change in Marital Quality Between 1980 and 2000 We use data from two national surveys of married rising age at ®rst marriage, the continuing high individualsÐone from 1980 and the other from divorce rate, and the declining remarriage rate 2000Ðto understand how three dimensions of demonstrate that marriage is a less permanent part marital quality changed during this period. Mar- of adult life now than in the recent past. Accord- ital happiness and divorce proneness changed lit- ing to a marital decline perspective, people are tle between 1980 and 2000, but marital interac- turning away from marriage because it has be- tion declined signi®cantly. A decomposition come increasingly dif®cult to maintain happy and analysis suggested that offsetting trends affected stable unions. marital quality. Increases in marital heterogamy, Other observers view recent changes in mar- premarital cohabitation, wives' extended hours of riage as being benign or even bene®cial (Coontz, employment, and wives' job demands were asso- 1992; Scanzoni, 2001; Skolnick, 1991; Stacey, ciated with declines in multiple dimensions of 1996). According to this view, although it is easier marital quality. In contrast, increases in economic for people to leave unhappy marriages these days, resources, decision-making equality, nontradition- the proportion of unhappy marriages in the pop- al attitudes toward gender, and support for the ulation has not necessarily increased. Indeed, be- norm of lifelong marriage were associated with cause divorce removes unhappy couples from the improvements in multiple dimensions of marital married population, existing marriages may be of quality. Increases in husbands' share of house- higher quality now than in the past. Moreover, in- work appeared to depress marital quality among creases in married women's education, employ- husbands but to improve marital quality among ment, and income have raised women's status and wives. given wives greater decision-making power, thus increasing the potential for less patriarchal and The belief that the institution of marriage is in more egalitarian marital relationships. decline is widespread (Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, With respect to marital instability, the divorce Swidler, & Glenn, 1996; Popenoe, 1993; Tipton, rate increased dramatically during the 1970s, 1985; Zill & Nord, 1994). The growing popularity peaked around 1980, then declined slightly (U.S. of nonmarital cohabitation, the increasing per- Bureau of the Census, 2000, Table 77). Therefore, centage of children born outside of marriage, the although divorce is common these days, relatively little change in marital instability occurred during Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State Univer- the last two decades. Evidence about the quality sity, University Park, PA 16802-6207 ([email protected]). of existing marriages, however, is sparse. Using Key Words: decomposition analysis, family change, family merged data from the General Social Survey, demography, marital quality, marriage. Glenn (1991) found that the percentage of people Journal of Marriage and Family 65 (February 2003): 1±22 1 2 Journal of Marriage and Family reporting that their marriages were very happy de- marital happiness tends to wane continuously with clined between 1973 and 1988. Similarly, Rogers duration of marriage (VanLaningham, Johnson, & and Amato (2000) compared a sample of young Amato, 2000). Therefore, if there are fewer mar- adults married between 1981 and 1997 (and sur- riages of long duration these days, then mean lev- veyed in 1997) with a sample of young adults els of marital happiness in the population may married between 1964 and 1980 (and surveyed in have increased. 1980) and found that the more recent marriage cohort reported less interaction and more marital Remarriage. The percentage of marriages involv- con¯ict. Although these studies suggest a decline ing previously married spouses increased substan- in the aggregate level of marital quality in the tially during the 1970s and stabilized during the population, the lack of research on this topic 1980s. Currently, about half of all marriages in- makes it dif®cult to reach conclusions with cer- volve a second or higher-order marriage for one tainty. The present study uses two national, rep- or both spouses (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000, resentative samples of married individuals in the Table 145). Spouses in second (or higher-order) United StatesÐone interviewed in 1980 and the marriages, compared with spouses in ®rst mar- other interviewed in 2000Ðto provide new evi- riages, tend to report lower marital quality (Booth dence on recent changes in the nature and quality & Edwards, 1992) and are more likely to see their of marriage. marriage end in divorce (White, 1990). Rates of remarriage following divorce have been declining in recent years, but if the current population of SOCIAL CHANGE 1980±2000 married individuals contains a higher proportion During the latter part of the 20th century, a variety of people in second or higher-order marriages, of demographic, economic, social, and cultural then the aggregate level of marital quality may changes in the U.S. population had the potential have declined. to affect people's marriages either positively or negatively. Children. The proportion of families without chil- dren under the age of 18 increased slightly, from 48% in 1980 to 52% in 1999 (U.S. Bureau of the Demographic Characteristics Census, 2000, Table 65). Studies typically show Age at marriage. Age at ®rst marriage began to that couples with children report less marital hap- rise in the early 1960s and continued to rise piness (Glenn & McLanahan, 1982). Observers through the 1990s. For men, the median age at disagree about whether this association exists be- ®rst marriage increased from 24.7 in 1980 to 26.7 cause having children lowers marital quality in 1998. The corresponding ®gures for women (Cowan & Cowan, 1992) or because children re- were 22.0 and 25.0 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, duce the likelihood that unhappily married people 1998). People who marry at young ages, com- will divorce (White, Booth, & Edwards, 1986). pared with those who marry at older ages, spend Regardless of the explanation, the decline in the less time searching for suitable partners, have proportion of couples with children may have fewer ®nancial resources, and are less mature psy- raised the mean level of marital quality in the pop- chologically. For these reasons, people who marry ulation. at young agesÐespecially during their teen yearsÐare at increased risk of being unhappily Race and ethnicity. Because African Americans married and seeing their marriages end in divorce are more likely than Whites to divorce (White, (Booth & Edwards, 1985; Bumpass, Martin, & 1990), it is likely that African Americans also ex- Sweet, 1991). The increase in age at marriage, perience more marital discord, although there is therefore, may have improved the quality of re- little research that directly compares these two cent marriages. groups. Nevertheless, the proportion of all married individuals who are African American changed Duration of marriage. Because people are mar- little between 1980 and 1999 (U.S. Bureau of the rying at older ages, and because an increasing pro- Census, 2000, Table 53), suggesting few impli- portion of unions are second (or higher-order) cations for aggregate levels of marital quality. The marriages for one or both spouses, the average percentage of Hispanic married couples, in con- duration of marriage in the population may have trast, nearly doubled during this period (U.S. Bu- declined. Recent longitudinal data indicate that reau of the Census, 2000, Table 53). Rates of di- Marital Quality: 1980±2000 3 vorce vary considerably between Hispanic groups, may undermine later marital stability. It is possi- and little research is available on marital quality ble, therefore, that the increase in premarital co- in this population. Consequently, the implications habitation has had negative consequences for mar- of the increase in the married Hispanic population riage (Seltzer, 2000). for marital quality in the United States are unclear. Education, Income, and Employment Heterogamy. Although people tend to choose spouses much like themselves with respect to age, Both women and men experienced increases in education, religion, and race, marital heterogamy education between 1980 and 2000. For example, has increased in recent years. For example, the the proportion of women 25 years of age and old- proportion of marriages that are interracial in- er who had completed 4 or more years of college creased from 1.3% in 1980 to 2.4% in 1999 (U.S. rose from 13% in 1980 to 23% in 1999; the cor- Bureau of the Census, 2000, Table 54). The in- responding percentages for men were 20% and crease in interracial and interethnic marriage holds 27%, respectively (U.S. Bureau of the Census, for almost all groups, including ethnic Whites 2000, Table 250). A high level of educational at- (such as Italian Americans and Polish Americans), tainment is associated with individual and family Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans characteristics that promote marital happiness and (Rosenfeld, 2002). Age-heterogamous marriages, stability. Well-educated individuals, compared especially those in which wives are older than with poorly educated individuals, earn more in- their husbands, also increased during this time
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