Study using the National Survey of Households and Families—Latter-day Saints and conservative Protestants get married the youngest.

Date
2004
Type
Academic / Technical Report
Source
Population Research and Policy Review
Non-LDS
Hearsay
Secondary
Reference

Evelyn L. Lehrer, "The role of religion in union formation: An economic perspective," Population Research and Policy Review 23 (2004): 161-185, accessed November 22, 2021

Scribe/Publisher
Population Research and Policy Review
People
Population Research and Policy Review
Audience
Internet Public
PDF
Transcription

Affiliation with the Catholic faith delays marriage (t = –3.4); the probability of having entered first marriage by age 20 is only 0.05 for Catholics, compared to 0.09 for mainline Protestants. The point estimate for a Jewish upbringing yields an even more pronounced effect: a probability of marriage by age 20 of only 0.02. However, the number of Jews in the sample is small (n = 22), and the coefficient attains significance only at the 15% level. In contrast, two groups display a pattern of very early entry into first marriage: conservative Protestants (t = 4.3) and Mormons (t = 2.5); the probability of marriage by age 20 is fully 0.17 for members of these groups, almost twice the value for the reference category.

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