Wax, Amy L. --- "Diverging Family Structure and ‘Rational’ Behavior: The Decline in Marriage as a Disorder of Choice" [2011] ELECD 594; in Cohen, R. Lloyd; Wright, D. Joshua (eds), "Research Handbook on the Economics of Family Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Economics of Family Law

Editor(s): Cohen, R. Lloyd; Wright, D. Joshua

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848444379

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: Diverging Family Structure and ‘Rational’ Behavior: The Decline in Marriage as a Disorder of Choice

Author(s): Wax, Amy L.

Number of pages: 57

Extract:

2 Diverging family structure and "rational" behavior:
the decline in marriage as a disorder of choice
Amy L. Wax


1. INTRODUCTION

The past 50 years have witnessed a growing divergence in family structure by race and
social class. This chapter attempts to understand these dramatic trends. It argues that this
dispersion can best be explained as the product of growing differences in styles of think-
ing about partner choice and reproductive behavior. Drawing on the work of psycholo-
gists Richard Herrnstein and Gene Heyman, the chapter presents a model that contrasts
two distinct types of "rational" choice: "global" and "local." It then demonstrates that
average disparities by race and class in the adoption of local or global decisionmaking
methods can account for the significant demographic variations now observed in rates of
marriage, divorce, and out-of-wedlock childbearing. The chapter then suggests that this
diversity emerged in the wake of the normative deregulation of the sexual revolution.
The demise of strong heuristic mores and institutional constraints, and the rise of ad
hoc individualism and moral improvisation, facilitated the development of contrasting
decisionmaking styles in intimate relations.


2. THE DEMOGRAPHIC DISPERSION IN FAMILY STRUCTURE

The past 50 years have seen dramatic changes in sexual behavior, patterns of reproduction,
and family life. Fewer people are getting married, cohabitation is on the rise, divorce is
commonplace, extra-marital sex is pervasive, and out-of-wedlock childbearing has grown
steadily for decades.1 These general developments mask important trends well known
to professional demographers: ...