POVERTY AND THE MARITAL BEHAVIOR OF YOUNG-WOMEN

Marriage provides one route out of poverty and long-term reliance an w elfare, yet little is known about the factors that encourage or impede marriage among poor, young women. We use data front the National Long itudinal Survey of Youth to examine first marriage transitions for poo r young women and young women who are not poor. We find that the latte r are more likely to marry than poor women, but poor women who have jo bs are more likely to marry than those who do not have jobs. Poor Blac k women have the same probability of marriage as poor White women, aft er controlling for differences in economic independence, mate availabi lity, and family culture and living arrangements. The receipt of welfa re was not associated with marriage propensity for either poor women o r women who are not poor. Lower mate availability and higher average w elfare payments in a local area depressed the probability of marriage among poor women but had no influence on the probability of marriage a mong women who are not poor.