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Article
Veteran Status, Race-Ethnicity, and Marriage among Fragile Families
Journal of Marriage and Family (2009)
  • Margaret L Usdansky, Syracuse University
  • Andrew S London
  • Janet M Wilmoth
Abstract
Abstract We used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,679) to examine the impact of men's past military service on the likelihood that a couple will many within 5 years of a nonmarital birth. Logistic regression analyses showed that men's past military service increased marriage odds by 54% for couples with Black fathers even after controlling for potential mediators. But veteran status had no effect on couples with White or Hispanic fathers. As a result, the large Black-White gap in postbirth marriage evident among couples with civilian fathers did not exist among couples with veteran fathers. Our findings bolster other evidence that military service exerts lasting and unique pro-marriage effects on Blacks.
Keywords
  • culture; ethnicity; fragile families and child well-being; marriage; military; race
Publication Date
August, 2009
Citation Information
Margaret L Usdansky, Andrew S London and Janet M Wilmoth. "Veteran Status, Race-Ethnicity, and Marriage among Fragile Families" Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 71 Iss. 3 (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/margaret_usdansky/4/