Browsing by Subject "Marriage"

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The Arts Involvement in Social and Political Issues: The Minnesota Arts Community and the Same-Sex Marriage Amendment
(2013-01-14) Carlson, Cortney
On November 6, 2012, Minnesota became the first state in the country to defeat a constitutional amendment to limit marriage equality. Focusing on the proposed marriage amendment, this thesis explores how the arts can be involved in social and political issues. Working together or with outside disciplines, the arts can be an asset to advocacy or campaign efforts.
Deciding not to Un-Do the "I Do": a qualitative study of the therapy experiences of women who consider divorce but decide to remain married
(2012-11) Kanewischer, Erica J.W.
This preliminary study explores (1) women's experience of couple's therapy while they navigated decision-making around divorcing and (2) the role that the therapy played in the women's decision not to divorce. A phenomenological approach and qualitative method was used to gain a deeper understanding of the participant's therapeutic and decision-making experience. Women that considered initiating divorce before they turned 40 and attended at least five couple's therapy sessions (N = 15) were interviewed for this study. In general, participants reported that the therapy was helpful to them, their decision-making process and their marriages. Five main themes emerged from the interviews specifically regarding the interaction of considering divorce and couples therapy. They were: Women Initiated Therapy, Therapist Was Experienced as Neutral, Therapy was Helpful, Importance of Other Factors, and Gradual Process.
Essays on divorce, marriage, time allocation and employment.
(2012-08) Genadek, Katherine Rose
This dissertation consists of three essays in the areas of labor economics and economic demography. The first essay builds on previous research, which has analyzed the economic impacts of divorce using various methods and outcomes, and from this research it is clear that divorce has economic consequences for women. One consequence of divorce that has not been explored is changes time allocation. Time allocation, specifically time spent in leisure, is directly related to the well-being of individuals, and it is expected to change with divorce when time-use gains from joint household production are no longer realized. The results show that divorced women spend more time in market work, and less time in housework than their married counterparts. Divorced women with children are found to have less leisure time than married women, and divorced women are found to spend the same amount of time in primary childcare yet significantly less time with children while doing other activities. The second essay is on the decision to enter the labor force for women with children. This decision is based on a variety of factors that includes characteristics of spouses. Husband's work schedules, work hours, and flexibility of work time will play an important role in this decision to enter the labor force, and additionally, in the decision to work part-time or a set number of hours. This paper uses detailed time-dairy and work schedules data to investigate the relationship between husband's work schedules and maternal employment. The results show married women with children are less likely to participate in the labor force when their husbands finish work after 6:00pm when compared to husbands that finish work before 6:00pm, even while controlling for simultaneous relationship between husband's work stopping time and wife's labor force participation. Finally, the third essay of this dissertation analyzes the effect of state-level changes in divorce law on the time allocation of married men and women. The results show that married men's time allocation is not impacted by the change in divorce law, yet women are found to be spending more time in leisure and less time in household production in states with unilateral divorce law.
Essays on female labor supply.
(2011-10) Tavares, Marina Mendes
Income tax systems are very different across OECD countries. In this thesis, I study the impact of differences in the progressivity of the tax schedule and in the unit of taxation on female labor supply. More precisely, in the first essay I quantify the impact of income tax reforms on female labor supply in the United States, and in the second essay I quantify to what extent differences in income taxation between the United States and Europe explain differences in female labor supply.
The lived experience of second-generation Hmong American teen mothers: a phenomenological study
(2014-06) Xiong, Phoua
Research and literature tend to focus on racial groups other than Asian Americans due to their relatively statistically low teen pregnancy rates. This study aims to contribute to that gap by examining the lived experience of five second-generation Hmong American teen mothers. Using a phenomenological approach, the study found that most participants were culturally but not legally married, thus they are not counted in the statistics on teen marriages. Although participants were still teenagers, they considered themselves adults once they were culturally married and/or became mothers. In addition to carrying the responsibilities associated with the roles of wife and mother, they added another significant role in the Hmong culture--that of daughter-in-law. However, even with these demands, most participants had completed high school and were planning to pursue post-secondary degrees. Findings from the lived experiences of the participants in this study contribute to a more culturally nuanced understanding of teen motherhood and marriage and provide insights into the support that Hmong teen mothers need to be successful.
Living Together - Essays on Cohabitation
(2016-07) Wong, Kelvin
This thesis studies cohabitation behavior in the United States, and proposes two answers as to why cohabitation rate increased in the last four decades. In Chapter 1, I propose that the increasing value of economies of scale can contribute to this increase in cohabitation. In Chapter 2, I propose that declining migration could have been a factor. In Chapter 1, I use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to document that even from before the start of cohabitation, cohabitors who eventually marry their partners and cohabitors who do not have different labor supply and wages. I find that those who cohabit and eventually marry work on average six hours more per week than those who cohabit but will not marry. I estimate that every hour worked per week in the year prior to the start of cohabitation increases the probability of transition into marriage by .7\%. Additionally, I find that lower wages prior to the start of cohabitation are associated with a lower probability of transitioning into marriage. I develop a theory of co-residential relationship formation where lower wages increase the value of living together, leading to less selectivity in match quality and thus a lower transition probability into marriage. Singles who have higher hours worked have higher disutility to begin a relationship along with higher income, leading to higher selectivity in match quality and thus a higher probability of transitioning into marriage. I show that lower real wages in the last five decades can explain the trends in cohabitation and marriage for college and non-college graduates. Finally, I suggest that changes to the incentives to form a co-residential relationship create an additional channel where urban poverty programs can affect welfare. In Chapter 2, I compare the migration and cohabitation behaviors between the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and 1997 cohorts. I document that for both cohorts, college graduates migrate more and cohabit less than non-college graduates. I hypothesize that having a higher probability of a future migration decreases the likelihood of cohabiting, as cohabitation can be seen as a form of settling down. I find that college graduates are more likely to move out of county or state. I also find that having a big move in the future decreases the odds of cohabiting. This can explain the cross-sectional difference between non-college and college graduates cohabitation rate. Comparing across cohorts and using the Census Bureau Current Population Survey, I find that cohabitation has increased and migration has decreased. This implies declining migration could also have contributed to the increase in cohabitation.
Marital risk factors and HIV infection among women: a comparison between Ghana and Kenya.
(2009-08) Rombo, Dorothy Owino
The purpose of this study is to establish and compare marital risk factors associated with HIV infection among women in Ghana and Kenya, regions representing low and high HIV prevalence, respectively. The study controls for individual demographics, sexual behavior, and socio-cultural contexts. Samples of 2,057 in Ghana and 1,657 in Kenya are drawn from Demographic Health Surveys of 2003. Of married/ cohabiting women, about 3% and 8% are infected with HIV in Ghana and Kenya respectively. These mirror the general population prevalence in both countries. Results of logistic regression analyses indicate that when individual demographics including SES, degree of autonomy to make self-healthcare decisions, religious affiliation, sexual behavior, and socio-cultural factors are controlled for, marital characteristics significantly account for HIV infection. For Ghana, the model accounts for 7% of variance and remarriage is the only significant marital risk, increasing the odds of infection 1.9 times over those who are not remarried. For Kenya, marital factors explain one-half (6%) of the 12% total variability accounted for by the model. Remarriage, polygyny, and traditional marriage are the positive risk factors, with estimated increased risk likelihood of 2.8, 2.4, and 2.2 respectively. Negative predictors include delayed sexual debut and marriage and longer duration of marriage. The latter is a significant predictor in Kenya. Implications for educators are including content stating the life course risk factors, beginning with early sexual debut, delayed marriage, and ending up in a marriage that is likely to be characterized by multiple occurrences of consensual unprotected sex. Such unions include traditional/ cohabitation, polygyny, and/or remarriage. Additionally, public health and social policies that delay sexual debut, marriage, and reduce the risk of infection both before and after marriage should be put in place. Risk-reduction policy is a public health approach that provides options for safe sex for young people who might be engaging in sex. Social policies include laws that govern social life, such as marriage. Both countries need to outlaw early marriage and enforce laws against it. The challenges of multiple partner marriages like polygyny and remarriage, which are protected by human rights laws, can be addressed through continued dialogue in communities to adopt riskreduction strategies in such unions. Other factors that support such practices, like poverty, require long-term plans. These should be relentlessly pursued. Further research with valid measurements for empowerment and socio-cultural factors that are relevant to HIV infection is needed. Similarly, research on long-term marriages that have weathered the HIV era could provide insights for strengthening marriages through education.
Negotiating marriage: artisan women in fifteenth-century Florentine society
(2009-07) Bender, Tovah
Social ties determined status, community membership, and even identity for all fifteenth-century Florentines. The marriage formation process was one of the most important opportunities to form social ties, not only between spouses but also with those friends, neighbors, and patrons who served as witnesses, guardians, and providers of dowries. This dissertation examines the process of marriage formation among Florentine artisans, defined as members of the minor guilds and their families in the late 1420s. The study relies on 1425-1429 notarial records of marriages, betrothals, and dowry receipts, and on the 1427 Florentine Catasto. The narrow chronological range makes it possible to cross-reference the two documents, thereby increasing the amount of information available for the couples and their families. It also centers the study on a period of transition in Florence. At this time, Florentine artisans represented a sizable and politically active community. However, the Florentine republic was edging closer and closer to an oligarchy, and, increasingly, artisans were politically marginalized in favor of progressively more powerful elite factions. Artisans' social ties--including those created during marriage--became ever more important for a continued sense of political power. From these sources, this dissertation makes three major points: First, although numerous studies of elite marriage exist for Florence and their results have been held to be representative of all Florentine society, marriage formation differed in significant ways across the social spectrum. Second, marriage formation provided artisans with an excellent opportunity to form and cement social bonds among themselves. This study also highlights the central role of artisans in both tying together those at different social levels and providing an avenue for social mobility, however limited. A focus on marriage also demonstrates the importance of women, particularly non-elite women, in Florentine social networks. Third, by demonstrating the variety of marriage patterns in Florence, and through comparison with the ever more diverse picture of marriage in England, this dissertation argues that the established contrast between marriage patterns in the two regions is increasingly untenable.
Outcomes of a couple relationship education program to promote relationship stability and marriage among fragile families.
(2012-01) Wilde, Jason L.
Couple relationship education (CRE) has been proposed as one means to help fragile families stabilize their relationships. The current research is one of the first studies to look at the outcomes of a CRE program with fragile families in terms of couple stability, marriage, and relationship satisfaction. Data were from the Minnesota Family Formation Project (FFP), a federal and state funded Community Healthy Marriage Initiative working with fragile family couples (n=96) in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A cohort control group quasi-experimental research design was used with matched control groups from the Fragile Family and Child Well-being Study and the Building Strong Families Study. The intervention consisted of in-home education and support, group educational events, and social service referrals. Findings showed that couples had the same rate of couple stability as the control groups but an increased rate of marriage. Relationship satisfaction for couples who stayed together remained stable, as hypothesized, instead of the normative decline found in the research literature. These findings suggest CRE can be useful to fragile families who are considering marriage in helping them achieve that goal but that some fragile families may either need more than CRE to help them stabilize their relationship or they may be better off separating.
A Randomized Controlled Trial Study of an African American Adaptation of the Marital First Responder Curriculum
(2018-04) Yeager, Corey
Individuals in marriages and long term committed relationships often turn to friends and family members for support and input about relationship problems. Given their lower use of mental health services, these confiding relationships may be particularly important to African Americans. The goal of this study was to evaluate an educational intervention, Marital First Responders, which was specifically adapted for African Americans who self-identify as confidants for others who are dealing with relationship stress. The focus was on increasing confidants’ knowledge, skills, and confidence, and potentially increasing their frequency of confiding interactions. Using a randomized controlled trial design, confidants were assigned to receive a one-day workshop or be placed on a wait-list control group. At three month follow up, findings showed the intervention produced more knowledge, skills and confiding interactions, but not greater confidence. This program has potential to enhance community support for African American couple relationships.
The social construction of gender and sexuality in response to HIV/AIDS: the case of Tanzanian professional couples.
(2009-07) Mlangwa, Susan
Many studies in Tanzania have examined the role of gender in the spread of HIV/AIDS. These studies have also examined the ways in which poverty increases vulnerability to the disease. Generally, normative gender relations and poverty are among the main factors precipitating the spread of HIV/AIDS. Scholars have also looked at the impact of HIV/AIDS on the economy and the livelihood of the Tanzanian people. My research project examines the impact of HIV/AIDS on gender relations and sexuality. Earlier studies looked at how gender affects the spread of AIDS and my project looks at the reverse--how the spread of AIDS affects gender relations. I examine the gender dynamics in interactions among young adults. In particular, I analyze the cultural constructions of masculinity and femininity in couple relationships and the subjective experiences among young Tanzanian professionals from two different generations, in the context of past and recent processes of socio-cultural change and the influence of HIV/AIDS. My research participants were currently living in Dar es Salaam. I selected young adult professionals because, as a group, they embody the processes of social transformation, as they are creations of postcolonial Tanzania. The main sociological question I address is: How has the HIV/AIDS pandemic changed gender relations and sexuality among young Tanzanian professional couples? In order to answer this question I used data from in-depth life history interviews to compare the two generations, triangulated by data gathered via semi-structured questionnaires, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation. My findings reveal that HIV/AIDS is occasioning changes in the cultural constructs of femininity and masculinity. These changes, however, do not encourage condom use in serious intimate relationships such as marriage. Rather, young professional couples are constructing safer sex through what I call "mindful marital lifestyles" that promote healthy gender relations, healthy sexual conduct, and fidelity. This state of affairs is in direct opposition to public health discourses concerning safe sex. This study describes processes of change in gender and sexuality in response to HIV/AIDS epidemic as part of individual initiatives to prevention, and hence contributes to HIV prevention research.
Tracking marital attitude change among high school students and predicting later union transitions.
(2009-08) Willoughby, Brian J.
Utilizing longitudinal data originally gathered from 1,010 high school freshman in a Midwestern metropolitan area, this study seeks to examine how marital attitudes change across late adolescence and into young adulthood and then how those marital attitudes might be used to predict the transition into cohabitation and marriage. Results suggest that as adolescents begin to enter young adulthood they place an increasingly important emphasis on marriage as a life goal and have a higher expectation to marry. Marital attitudes in late adolescence are also predictive of the transition to marriage but not to cohabitation. Results are examined within the context of common demographic factors such as gender, race, and family structure.
Unclaimed flowers and blossoms protected by Thorns: never-married women in the United States, 1880-1930.
(2010-08) Frahm, Jill
A woman's decision to marry was closely tied to turn of the twentieth century concerns about race, ethnicity, female employment, and class. The number of never-married women in the United States grew between 1880 and 1920 as a result of the new employment opportunities that appeared in the decades following the Civil War. U.S. census data reveals that during these years the percent of forty-five to fifty-four year old women who were never married climbed to the highest point in United States history, through the 2000 census. However, lifelong singleness was not attractive or even plausible for all women in the United States. Race, ethnicity, class, and location had a profound impact on a woman's marital decision. The racial and/or ethnic group with which a woman identified defined, to a large extent, the pool of men from which she might select a husband and how much pressure was placed upon her to wed. Race and ethnicity, in many cases, also determined what jobs were open to her, how attractive they might be as an alternative to marriage, and what she gained or lost if she chose to marry. White middle class women, particularly those from affluent families, were more likely to remain single than women from other classes or backgrounds because they often had educations that allowed them to move into the new, better paying jobs and affluent families to rely on if they remained single. Geographic location was also important because the jobs and men available in any particular area shaped a woman's decision to marry. However, a woman's race and ethnicity were most important because they provided the parameters through which she measured her life choices.

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