Abstract
Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, between 1969 and 1978, the change in the percentage of marital disruption among 3372 families is decomposed into: (1) an increase of 1.7 percent due to the direct effects of age at first marriage; (2) a decrease of 1.1 percent from changes in the relative age at first birth; and (3) a 2.7 percent increase stemming from changes in the internal structure of the families. The maldaptation of concepts from the life-course perspective is demonstrated to have led to the expectation of somewhat different findings, and for the confusion regarding the roles of life-cycle and life-course events in precipitating marital instability. The results strongly suggest the use of greater discretion in the formulation and use of different classes of events within the life-course framework.
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Direct all communication to: A. Wade Smith, Department of Sociology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, U.S.A.
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Wade Smith, A., Meitz, J.E.G. Life-course effects on marital disruption. Social Indicators Research 13, 395–417 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318078
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318078