The Effects of “Overwork” on the Timing of First Marriage

Sungsik Hwang , University of Wisconsin-Madison
Jenna Nobles, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Rising expectations of “overwork” appear to be detrimental to various dimensions of well-being. In populations with small family sizes, excessive work demands are perceived as a primary factor contributing to fertility rates that have fallen below 1.0 birth per woman — not only via a reduction in marital fertility (quantum effects) but also through delays in the timing of first marriages (tempo effects). Assessing this relationship is challenging, as work, mate selection, and marriage decisions all share many common causes. To contribute evidence to this discussion, we examine changes in the timing of first marriages in the wake of two large-scale legislative changes in South Korea designed to regulate weekly working hours. We employ a fixed effect instrumental variable strategy to assess the impact of overwork on the timing of first marriage. Our preliminary findings suggest that working more than 40 hours per week decreases the probability of entering into a first marriage by approximately 40 percentage points. Furthermore, we observed gender differences in these effects; the impact of overwork was found to be more pronounced among women than men.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 75. Union Formation