TY - RPRT AU - Ahn, Kunwon AU - Winters, John V. TI - Causal Effects of Education on Marriage PY - 2025/Feb/ PB - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) CY - Bonn T2 - IZA Discussion Paper IS - 17665 UR - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp17665 AB - Many nations have experienced both rising education levels and declining marriage rates. However, cross-sectional comparisons within countries often indicate that more highly educated individuals are more likely to be married. Economic theory suggests ambiguous causal effects of education on marriage. This study uses a novel instrumental variable approach and finds that education decreases the probability of being married for younger persons but not for older persons. However, education increases the probability of never marrying even by ages 45-54. Education also reduces the likelihood of being divorced or separated, which partially offsets effects on being never married in overall marriage rates. KW - marriage KW - education KW - human capital KW - instrumental variables ER -