SOME WOMEN MARRY YOUNG - TRANSITIONS TO 1ST MARRIAGE IN METROPOLITAN AND NONMETROPOLITAN AREAS

We examine the extent to which the timing of first marriage differs fo r metropolitan and nonmetropolitan young women. Individual-level data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth are matched to local ma rriage market conditions to estimate discrete time hazard models of tr ansitions to first marriage. Young nonmetropolitan women marry at a yo unger age than metropolitan women, a difference only partially explain ed by variations in the attributes of the young women, their families, and the local marriage market. The effects of receipt of public assis tance and local mate availability on the transition to first marriage differ for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan young women.