Hi Honey,
Here is a reference to an academic paper from a public policy institute,
along with the US Census Bureau stats (part of the collateral for the
findings in the paper) that speak to your question.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Findings
The following sections provide a basic profile of the population of
economically disadvantaged married couples. We look first at rates of
entry into, and exit from, first marriage. Next, we examine the timing
of transitions to parenthood in relation to marriage. A series of
analyses then document how basic socio-economic characteristics of
married couples vary by income level and, among low-income couples, by
race and ethnicity. Finally, we assess evidence on whether and how
marital quality varies across couple income levels.
* People with economic disadvantages are just as likely to marry as
other people, but their marriages are substantially more unstable.
Characterizing the situation as one of "not as much marriage"
among disadvantaged people misses an important distinction. Tying the
knot does not seem to be an issue: rather, the problem appears to be
maintaining the union thereafter. Statistics from the 1995 National
Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), as reported by Bramlett and Mosher
(2002), demonstrate this distinction for a variety of individual and
community-level indicators of disadvantage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```
You'll find the entire treatise at this link:
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/393/workpaper.html
<http://www.mdrc.org/publications/393/workpaper.html>
Plus the tables from the US Census Bureau that provide some of the data
used in the paper, all specific to gender, income level and marital
status by age:
http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2006/tabA1-all.xls
<http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2006/tabA1-all.xls>
Hope this helps,
Teresa Dentino
theFinancial411
650.851.8959
www.thefinancial411.com <http://www.thefinancial411.com>
http://the411.typepad.com ;<http://the411.typepad.com>
--- In CollabLaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Honey Hastings" <honeyhastings@...>
wrote:
opening
A op ed piece by David Brooks in the 27 June NYT said "Gaps are
between the educated and less educated. Working-class divorce rates
remain high, while the mostly upper-middle-class parents of Ivy
Leaguers have divorce rates of only 10 percent. Working-class kids are
unlikely to complete college, affluent kids usually do."
I have never heard of such a divorce rate differential. Have you? Any
documentation or studies on this point? My experience suggests that
folks with more money may divorce later (divorce after 18-25 years,
rather than stay married.
