Choice of Marriage and Post-Marriage Decision-Making Power in UK

Abstract

Success in marriage markets has long-term consequences for women's well-being. Parents use their financial and social power to influence spouse characteristics and ensure optimal marriages by arranging marriages. While marriage arrangements are a major focus of parental investment, marriage decisions are also a source of conflict between parents and daughters, with parents frequently wielding more power. However, the process of market integration may alter parental investment strategies, increasing children's bargaining power and decreasing parents' influence over their children's marriage decisions. We use data from a market-integrating region of the United Kingdom to (a) describe temporal changes in marriage types, (b) identify which women enter arranged marriages, and (c) examine how market integration affects arranged marriage patterns. The majority of women's marriages were arranged, with love marriages becoming more common in recent years.

Keywords- Marriage and Post-Marriage