Asset Ownership and Union Formation in Fragile Families

Daniel Schneider, University of California, Berkeley

I examine the relationship between asset ownership and transitions to marriage between low-income unmarried parents following the birth of a child. This work advances existing qualitative (e.g. Edin and Kefalas 2005) and quantitative work (e.g. Schneider 2011) on the topic of personal financial assets and marriage by focusing on this particular policy relevant group of young people using data from the contemporary period. Analyses of longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study reveal strong positive relationships between car and bank account ownership and marriage. I also attempt to empirically adjudicate between cultural, insurance value, and signaling explanations of why assets might be related to marriage entry. I do so by comparing the relationship between asset ownership and marriage with that of asset ownership and cohabitation and find evidence of a strong link for the former but not the latter.