Abstract
Whether marriage causes people to live longer or whether healthier people select into marriage is an open question. In this study I followed a sample of men from age 18 to first marriage and ultimately to death. Health in early adulthood was represented by height and weight around age 20. The probability of ever marrying and the conditional probability of marriage in a given time period were lower for smaller men and greater for larger men. Marriage significantly lowered mortality risk even after controlling for health in early adulthood. Thus I found support both for selection into marriage and for protective effects of marriage.
The text of this article is only available as a PDF.
References
Allebeck, P., & Bergh, D. (
1992
). Height, Body Mass Index and Mortality: Do Social Factors Explain the Association?
. Public Health
, 106
, 375
–82
. 10.1016/S0033-3506(05)80186-6Allison, D.B., Heo, M.S., Flanders, D.W., Faith, M.S., & Williamson, D.F. (
1997
). Examination of ‘Early Mortality Exclusion’ as an Approach to Control for Confounding by Occult Disease in Epidemiologic Studies of Mortality Risk Factors
. American Journal of Epidemiology
, 146
, 672
–80
.Allison, P.D. (
1995
). Survival Analysis Using the SAS System: A Practical Guide
. Cary, NC
: SAS Institute
.Amherst College Biographical Record
. (1963
). Amherst, MA
: Trustees of Amherst College
.Averett, S., & Korenman, S. (
1996
). The Economic Reality of The Beauty Myth
. Journal of Human Resources
, 31
, 304
–30
. 10.2307/146065Baten, J., & Murray, J.E. (
1998
). Women’s Stature and Marriage Markets in Nineteenth Century Bavaria
. Journal of Family History
, 23
, 124
–35
. 10.1177/036319909802300202Costa, D.L. (
1993
). Height, Weight, Wartime Stress, and Older Age Mortality: Evidence From Union Army Records
. Explorations in Economic History
, 30
, 424
–49
. 10.1006/exeh.1993.1018Costa, D.L. (
1996
). Health and Labor Force Participation of Older Men, 1900–1991
. Journal of Economic History
, 56
, 62
–89
. 10.1017/S0022050700016028Costa, D.L., & Steckel, R.H. (
1997
). Long Term Trends in Health, Welfare, and Economic Growth in the United States
. In R.H. Steckel, & R. Floud (Eds.), Health and Welfare During Industrialization
(pp. 47
–90
). Chicago
: University of Chicago Press
.Cuff, T. (
1993
). The Body Mass Index Values of Mid-Nineteenth Century West Point Cadets
. Historical Methods
, 26
, 171
–82
.Elo, I.T., & Preston, S.H. (
1992
). Effects of Early Life Conditions on Adult Mortality: A Review
. Population Index
, 58
, 186
–212
. 10.2307/3644718Eveleth, P.B., & Tanner, J.M. (
1990
). Worldwide Variation in Human Growth
. 2nd ed.Cambridge, UK
: Cambridge University Press
.Fogel, R.W. (
1986
). Nutrition and the Decline in Mortality Since 1700: Some Preliminary Findings
. In S.L. Engerman, & R.E. Gallman (Eds.), itLong-Term Factors in American Economic Growth
(pp. 439
–527
). Chicago
: University of Chicago Press
.Fu, H., & Goldman, N. (
1996
). Incorporating Health Into Models of Marriage Choice: Demographic and Sociological Perspectives
. Journal of Marriage and the Family
, 58
, 740
–58
. 10.2307/353733Fuess, C.M. (
1935
). Amherst: The Story of a New England College
. Boston
: Little, Brown
.Galton, F. (
1889
). Anthropometric Statistics From Amherst College, Mass., U.S.A
. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain
, 18
, 192
–99
. 10.2307/2842417Goldman, N. (
1993
). Marriage Selection and Mortality Patterns: Inferences and Fallacies
. Demography
, 30
, 189
–207
. 10.2307/2061837Hacker, J.D. (
1997
). Trends and Determinants of Adult Mortality in Early New England: Reconciling Old and New Evidence From the Long Eighteenth Century
. Social Science History
, 21
, 481
–520
. 10.2307/1171663Haines, M.R. (
1996
). Long Term Marriage Patterns in the United States From Colonial Times to the Present
. The History of the Family
, 1
, 15
–39
. 10.1016/S1081-602X(96)90018-4Haines, M.R. (
1998
). Estimated Life Tables for the United States, 1850–1910
. Historical Methods
, 31
, 149
–69
.Hitchcock, E. (
1879
). Department of Physical Education and Hygiene in Amherst College
. Boston
: Rand, Avery
.Hoffmans, M.D.A.F., Kromhout, D., & De Lezenne Coulander, C. (
1988
). The Impact of Body Mass Index of 78,612 18-Year-Old Men on 32-Year Mortality From All Causes
. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
, 41
, 749
–56
. 10.1016/0895-4356(88)90161-8Hu, Y., & Goldman, N. (
1990
). Mortality Differentials by Marital Status: An International Comparison
. Demography
, 27
, 233
–50
. 10.2307/2061451Johansson, S.R. (
1994
). Food for Thought: Rhetoric and Reality in Modern Mortality History
. Historical Methods
, 27
, 101
–25
.Komlos, J. (
1987
). The Height and Weight of West Point Cadets: Dietary Change in Antebellum America
. Journal of Economic History
, 47
, 897
–927
. 10.1017/S002205070004986XKomlos, J. (
1996
). Anomalies in Economic History: Toward a Resolution of the ‘Antebellum Puzzle’
. Journal of Economic History
, 56
, 202
–14
. 10.1017/S0022050700016089Komlos, J., & Coclanis, P.A. (
1995
). Nutrition and Economic Development in Post-Reconstruction South Carolina: An Anthropometric Approach
. Social Science History
, 19
, 91
–115
. 10.2307/1171231Lillard, L.A., & Panis, C.W.A. (
1996
). Marital Status and Mortality: The Role of Health
. Demography
, 33
, 313
–27
. 10.2307/2061764Maddala, G.S. (
1983
). Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics
. New York
: Cambridge University Press
.Margo, R.A., & Steckel, R.H. (
1982
). Heights of American Slaves: New Evidence on Slave Nutrition and Health
. Social Science History
, 6
, 516
–38
. 10.2307/1170974Monahan, T.P. (
1951
). The Pattern of Age at Marriage in the United States
. Philadelphia
: Stephenson Brothers
.Murray, J.E. (
1997
). Standards of the Present for People of the Past: Height, Weight, and Mortality Among Men of Amherst College, 1834–1949
. Journal of Economic History
, 57
, 585
–606
. 10.1017/S0022050700019379Murray, J.E. and B.A. Lagger. Forthcoming. “Involuntary Childlessness and Voluntary Fertility Control During the American Fertility Transition.” Population Studies.
Riley, J.C. (
1994
). Height, Nutrition, and Mortality Risk Reconsidered
. Journal of Interdisciplinary History
, 24
, 465
–92
. 10.2307/206681Steckel, R.H. (
1995
). Stature and the Standard of Living
. Journal of Economic Literature
, 33
, 1903
–40
.R.H. Steckel, & R. Floud (
1997
). Health and Welfare During Industrialization
. Chicago
: University of Chicago Press
.Strauss, J., & Thomas, D. (
1998
). Health, Nutrition, and Economic Development
. Journal of Economic Literature
, 36
, 766
–817
.Tanner, J.M. (
1978
). Fetus Into Man: Physical Growth From Conception to Maturity
. Cambridge
: Harvard University Press
.Tanner, J.M. (
1981
). A History of the Study of Human Growth
. New York
: Cambridge University Press
.Historical Statistics of the United States
. (1976
). Washington, DC
: U.S. Government Printing Office
.Waaler, H.T. (
1984
). Height, Weight, and Mortality: The Norwegian Experience
. Acta Medica Scandinavia
, 679S
, 1
–51
.Waldron, I., Hughes, M.E., & Brooks, T.L. (
1996
). Marriage Protection and Marriage Selection: Prospective Evidence for Reciprocal Effects of Marital Status and Health
. Social Science and Medicine
, 43
, 113
–23
. 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00347-9Whaples, R. (
1995
). The Standard of Living Among Polish- and Slovak-Americans: Evidence From Fraternal Insurance Records, 1880–1970
. In J. Komlos (Ed.), The Biological Standard of Living on Three Continents
(pp. 151
–71
). Boulder
: Westview
.© Population Association of America 2000
2000
Issue Section:
Articles on Other Topics
