Putting a Ring on It: Men’s Work in the Underground Economy and the Decision to Marry

ABSTRACT Men’s employment is an important predictor of union formation and couples’ transitions to marriage, but previous research has not investigated the extent to which the type of men’s employment affects the likelihood of marriage. To fill this gap, we use multinomial logistic regression and data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,128) to explore whether men’s employment in the underground economy inhibits or promotes the transition to marriage among unmarried parents three years after the birth of their child. The results show that underground work is associated with relationship instability and serves as a barrier to marriage. Thus, in fragile families, the type of work that the father does, independent of the amount of income he earns from such employment, drives couples’ decisions to marry. Implications for research and policy that stem from the findings are discussed.