Replication data for: Unilateral Divorce, the Decreasing Gender Gap, and Married Women's Labor Force Participation

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Raquel Fernández; Joyce Wong

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
P2014_1151_data			08/02/2019 08:31:PM
LICENSE.txt	text/plain	14.6 KB	08/02/2019 04:31:PM

Project Citation:

Project Description

Summary: Married women's labor force participation (LFP) increased dramatically in the United States between the 1940 and 1960 cohort. The two cohorts lived under different divorce regimes (unilateral divorce rather than mutual consent). The 1960 cohort also had a lower gender wage gap. We use a quantitative dynamic life-cycle model of endogenous marital status, calibrated to key statistics for the 1940 cohort, to study the effects of these two changes. We find that both drivers combined are able to account for over 50 percent of the increase in married women's LFP and also generate large movements in marriage and divorce rates.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      J22 Time Allocation and Labor Supply
      J31 Wage Level and Structure • Wage Differentials
      J16 Economics of Gender • Non-labor Discrimination
      J12 Marriage • Marital Dissolution • Family Structure • Domestic Abuse

Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2019-08-02]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as received from the data depositor. As of April 2026, depositors are required to submit study materials in accessible formats. ICPSR has not reviewed, checked, or processed this material. For additional information about the study, please contact the investigator(s) directly. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR's Accessibility Center.