Texas Tech Population Center Presents:
Brandon Wagner, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work
Health Insurance and Marriage Among American Young Adults:
Results from a Natural Quasi-Experiment
Monday November 11th, 2019
Time: 3 PM
Room: 129 Holden Hall
Abstract:
While individuals marry for many reasons, one possible reason to marry is access to health insurance. Recent changes in health insurance, namely the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), suggest a possible means to test the effect of health insurance access on the decision to marry. Using data from the Texas Marriage License Application Index, a comprehensive index of all marriages in the state of Texas, I find that marriage among those newly eligible to stay on parents’ health insurance decreased following the dependent eligibility expansion. This decline is specific to the newly eligible and observed in counties with different economic trajectories, suggesting that health insurance access influences young adults’ decisions to marry.
For more information, please visit the TTU Population Center’s Website: https://www.depts.ttu.edu/pop/