A Good Age to Marry? An Intergenerational Model of the Influence of Timing Attitudes on Entrance into Marriage

Do timing attitudes—subjective evaluations of particular ages as good ages to marry—influence entrance into marriage? To address this question, we formulated an intergenerational model of how parents’ and children’s timing attitudes influence children’s marriage behavior. We theorized that both parents’ and children’s timing attitudes influence expectations of when children will marry. In turn, both parents’ and children’s marital expectations would influence children’s actual entrance into marriage. We tested the model using intergenerational panel data from Nepal collected in 2008–2014. Timing attitudes of young people and their parents did influence expectations, as well as entrance into marriage. Young people’s own attitudes were more influential than their parents’ attitudes in determining children’s expectations, but not behavior. Further, while the influence of parents was relatively even, mothers appear slightly more influential than fathers.