CATHOLICISM AND MARRIAGE IN THE UNITED-STATES

This study examines the effects of a Catholic background on age at fir st marriage, the odds of never marrying, and the odds of ever divorcin g. Estimates using Catholic upbringing are compared with estimates usi ng Catholic at the time of the survey, A case is made that if the latt er measure of Catholicism is used, serious selection bias problems occ ur in some cases because this measure excludes defectors and includes converts. Further, it is shown that a Catholic upbringing generally ha s no effect on men's age at first marriage and has a positive effect o n the age when women marry. It is also shown that older Baptist men ar e substantially more likely than Catholic men to experience a divorce. Older Catholic women are somewhat less likely to experience a divorce than non-Baptist Protestant women. There is no Catholic effect on the odds that younger men and women will divorce.