ECONOMIC-DETERMINANTS OF MALE FARMERS MARITAL-STATUS

In several Western European countries, prolonged or permanent male bac helorhood is much more frequent in agriculture than in other sectors. Our hypothesis is that this marital disparity is partly due to differe nces in earning capacity. This is tested for France: a negative relati onship appears between the farmers' unmarried rate and an indicator of farm income. The factors leading to the marital disparity support the hypothesis that economic disparity is first a cause but can also be a n effect. The evidence suggests that cultural factors are also involve d.