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Race and Marital Quality in the Context of the 2007–2009 Recession

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International Handbook on the Demography of Marriage and the Family

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 7))

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Abstract

While there is a fair amount of research on marital quality and happiness, a more thorough understanding of its determinants is still vital, in particular, how it varies by race. This study seeks to extend prior research on race differences in marital quality by examining marital happiness in the context of the 2007–2009 economic recession. We analyze General Social Survey data for the years 2006–2010 to capture the effect of the economic downturn. Framed by the Family Stress Model, descriptive findings show that marital happiness declined for both blacks and whites during the recession year of 2008, but overall happiness scores were higher for whites than blacks in all survey years. Regression findings show that economic pressure measures exert no influence on happiness among blacks or whites, but several sociodemographic and control measures are predictive. We conclude with directions for future research regarding race and marital happiness.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ∗∗∗ indicates a statistically significant difference in marital happiness between Blacks and Whites for that survey year with a p-value of less than.001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Samford University, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Theresa Davidson

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  1. Theresa Davidson
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Correspondence to Theresa Davidson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology & Criminal Justice, Texas A&M University–Commerce, Commerce, TX, USA

    D. Nicole Farris

  2. Literature and Languages, Texas A&M University–Commerce, Commerce, TX, USA

    A. J. J. Bourque

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Davidson, T. (2020). Race and Marital Quality in the Context of the 2007–2009 Recession. In: Farris, D.N., Bourque, A.J.J. (eds) International Handbook on the Demography of Marriage and the Family. International Handbooks of Population, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35079-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35079-6_11

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