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Midpregnancy Marriage and Divorce: Why the Death of Shotgun Marriage Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

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  • Christina M. Gibson-Davis

    (Duke University)

  • Elizabeth O. Ananat

    (Duke University)

  • Anna Gassman-Pines

    (Duke University)

Abstract

Conventional wisdom holds that births following the colloquially termed “shotgun marriage”—that is, births to parents who married between conception and the birth—are nearing obsolescence. To investigate trends in shotgun marriage, we matched North Carolina administrative data on nearly 800,000 first births among white and black mothers to marriage and divorce records. We found that among married births, midpregnancy-married births (our preferred term for shotgun-married births) have been relatively stable at about 10 % over the past quarter-century while increasing substantially for vulnerable population subgroups. In 2012, among black and white less-educated and younger women, midpregnancy-married births accounted for approximately 20 % to 25 % of married first births. The increasing representation of midpregnancy-married births among married births raises concerns about well-being among at-risk families because midpregnancy marriages may be quite fragile. Our analysis revealed, however, that midpregnancy marriages were more likely to dissolve only among more advantaged groups. Of those groups considered to be most at risk of divorce—namely, black women with lower levels of education and who were younger—midpregnancy marriages had the same or lower likelihood of divorce as preconception marriages. Our results suggest an overlooked resiliency in a type of marriage that has only increased in salience.

Suggested Citation

  • Christina M. Gibson-Davis & Elizabeth O. Ananat & Anna Gassman-Pines, 2016. "Midpregnancy Marriage and Divorce: Why the Death of Shotgun Marriage Has Been Greatly Exaggerated," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 1693-1715, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:53:y:2016:i:6:d:10.1007_s13524-016-0510-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-016-0510-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paula England & Lawrence Wu & Emily Shafer, 2013. "Cohort Trends in Premarital First Births: What Role for the Retreat From Marriage?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(6), pages 2075-2104, December.
    2. Donna K. Ginther & Madeline Zavodny, 2001. "Is the male marriage premium due to selection? The effect of shotgun weddings on the return to marriage," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 313-328.
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    6. Jessica Su & Rachel Dunifon & Sharon Sassler, 2015. "Better for Baby? The Retreat From Mid-Pregnancy Marriage and Implications for Parenting and Child Well-being," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(4), pages 1167-1194, August.
    7. R. Raley, 2001. "Increasing fertility in cohabiting unions: evidence for the second demographic transition in the united states?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(1), pages 59-66, February.
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    2. Anna Merklinger-Gruchala & Maria Kapiszewska, 2019. "The Effect of Prenatal Stress, Proxied by Marital and Paternity Status, on the Risk of Preterm Birth," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-19, January.

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