Sanitation and Marriage Markets in India: Evidence from the Total Sanitation Campaign

This paper analyses the marriage decisions of men and women, focusing on the added attractiveness of sanitation within the living arrangement, in rural India. We exploit district and time variation from the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) which increased sanitation by 6.6 percent among households with marriage eligible children and generated an exogenous increase in the composition of households with sanitation. Using data from the Indian Human Development household survey (IHDS) and district level census, we show that exposure to TSC increased the probability of marriage for men and women, from poorer households, by 3.8 pp and 6.5 pp respectively. The reduced form estimates incorporate both general equilibrium effects and heterogeneous program effects – two important components of equilibrium marital behavior. To decompose the overall policy impact on marriage market equilibrium we formulate a simple matching model where men and women match on observed and unobserved characteristics. Through model simulations, we show that cohorts within TSC exposed markets experienced a shift in marital gains both across matches but also within a given match. Specifically, the resultant sorting patterns display a marked gender asymmetry with an increase in marital surplus among matches where men are wealthier than their spouse, and a decrease in surplus where the wife is wealthier. Moreover, the increased access to sanitation for TSC exposed women implied a decline in their expected control over resources within the marriage.

Marriage rates of the population in Bulgaria: features and trends of change

The paper studies the past and contemporary marriage rates in Bulgaria. The analysis starts with the marriage patterns after the Liberation, when high marriage rates were observed, especially after the war periods. During socialism, the family was perceived as the main functioning cell of society and the marriage rates continued to be relatively high. In the 1990s and the beginning of the new century, a change in the marital behavior was observed – a significant postponement of entry into marriage and motherhood led to a family model that had not been common in the past. The authors also conclude that there are different stages in the marriage patterns in Bulgaria – both historically and spatially. The different factors affecting these processes are also studied and discussed in the paper.

Generation changes in marital behavior of Russians: sociological analysis

Analyzed are significant changes, taking place in marital behavior of Russians, i.e. age of first marriage is increasing, and registration is being postponed more and more often. The percentage of those, who are married without registration continues to increase. Data from all-Russian population censuses and micro-censuses, as well as sample surveys of population, allow to identify changes in marital behavior of Russians, which are quite clearly manifested from generation to generation. Analysis of results of population censuses and sample surveys of population allows us to conclude, that marital behavior of Russians has changed in direction of reducing the value of mandatory registered marriage.

Psychological and pedagogical potential of life orientations of spouses with various dominant marital behavior

The article is devoted to the problem of transformation of family values, the emergence of new types of families in the context of modern marriage. The authors believe that in post-Soviet society in Russia, the axiological approach is the most heuristic in the study of marriage. The authors used a psychological analysis of the life-meaning orientations of spouses with a traditional type of marriage and spouses focused on voluntary childlessness. The results of the study showed that the specifics of life and life orientations of the husband and wife, their personal characteristics determine the attitudes and expectations of marital relations, the choice of the type of family. It was revealed that the life orientations of spouses who support voluntary childlessness are contradictory: men, when they are dissatisfied with their lives in the present and not confident in their abilities, focused on getting pleasure as the meaning of life here and now; and the wife, experiencing the riches of his life, demonstrating the confidence, commitment to the future, a higher meaning of life. Spouses from the traditional type of family are both happy with their lives. At the same time, husbands are characterized by an average level of meaningfulness of life, focus on the implementation of current tasks, and wives with a high sense of life are focused on the future, are confident in the possibility of building a life in accordance with their ideas about its meaning and life goals.

The Future of Christian Marriage

The foundational vision of marriage as a load-bearing structure has receded, but the core and key expectations of marriage have not changed. As a result, marriage rates have declined. Fewer Christians will marry in the future, but given their elevated commitment to matrimony, they will comprise an increasing share of the world’s marriages over time. The recession in marriage highlights the collapse of familism and the rise of atomism. The data supports one particular theory about how religion influences marital behavior—the moral communities thesis, which concludes that Christian marriage is tightly linked to wider trends, suggesting marriage is a public matter. Religious efforts to “get the government out of the marriage business” are shortsighted. How central is marriage to Christian faith and practice? Very. Given its public nature, cohabitation threatens Christianity more than does premarital sex. The book concludes with five predictions for what to expect next.

From Solidarity to Individualism in the Contemporary Couple

The contemporary society highlights a general type of marital behavior, still influenced by traditional sets of values. Today, the influence of the families of origin in the selection of the conjugal partner, in the marital decision and, often, in the way of organizing the functions of the family is obvious. Moreover, the general economic situation makes living with parents an alternative to consider. In this sense, the premises of modern marital relations are very difficult for some. At the same time, analyzing the national statistical data, we can see that the indicators that show the traditionality in the distribution of domestic roles show that over 50% of respondents consider that household chores should be done by women. Surprisingly, perhaps, if we compare the statistical data of the Gender Barometer from 2000 and 2018, we notice that, if in the first barometer, the share of those who believed in the female specifics of domestic roles was 63%, in 2018, this opinion amounted to 53% (Grumberg, Rusu, Samoilă, 2019). Beyond the general attitude, a new set of behaviors identified in young couples gradually legitimizes a new form of conjugal manifestation - relational individualism. The study aims to functionally evaluate these new tendencies of manifestation, analyzing the effects of relational individualism within the Romanian contemporary couple. The research bases its methodology on the utilitarian myth, that of the mutual fulfillment of needs, it is of a qualitative nature and the research instrument is the semi-structured interview.

For Better or . . . Not

This chapter examines the role marriage plays in the life planning and behavior of emerging adults. Most emerging adults hold marriage in positive regard and plan to get married at some point. As emerging adults age, however, finances, career development, education, and job availability lead them to flexibly shift their “marital horizons” and become more open to marital alternatives, such as remaining single or cohabitating. Emerging adults are getting married later and are also remaining single in increasing numbers. Although the dominant cultural model of marriage is one that promotes individual growth and self-actualization, there is an emerging class divide. Partners are expecting more from marriage while investing less time in their partners. New models for marital behavior and expectations may be needed to address why some marriages are more satisfying than ever before, while a great number are falling short, encumbered by individual, cultural, and structural considerations.