Time-related determinants of marital dissolution

In this article, several dimensions of temporality are identified and their impact on marital dissolution is assessed in a multivariate continuous time model using marital and fertility histories from the June 1985 Current Population Survey. The temporal concepts are timing of prior events, historical time, duration dependence, and selectivity. Results indicate that marital stability is decreasing over time, increases over marital duration, increases with age at marriage, and varies with the arrival and aging of children. Models with unobserved heterogeneity indicate only modest effects for selectivity. Failure to consider several dimensions of time will often lead to biased results.