THE MARRIAGE TAX AND THE RATE AND TIMING OF MARRIAGE

The effect of the differential tax treatment of married and unmarried couples, the so-called marriage tax, on the rate and timing of marriag es is analyzed. Using time-series data, we study the effect of the mar riage tax on the fraction of unmarried women over the age of 15 years who marry in each year. We find no effect We also investigate whether couples shift the timing of their marriage from the end of one year to the beginning of the next year in response to an increase in the marr iage tax We find empirical support for this behavior.