VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- All men value marriage at the late stages of their working lives as well as during periods of high health risk, Canadian researchers found.
Researchers examined data from the Canadian Survey of Labor and Income Dynamics and found that in marriages, "main-earners" -- typically husbands -- tend to transfer income and compensate "second-earners" -- typically wives. The second-earners, in turn, provide conditional time and care in periods of need -- such as illness and disability of main-earner.
Giovanni Gallipoli of the University of British Columbia and Laura Turner of the University of Toronto also found the insurance the second-earner provides to the main-earner in the marital contract serves as an important mechanism to help smooth out household income in periods of health and disability shocks to the main-earner.
Marriages become more stable the longer the couple is together, and uncertainty is resolved.
"Low-risk" marriages, where the main-earner has low health risks are more stable and encounter less renegotiation and termination of marital contracts at every stage of the life cycle.
However, men who are at high risk of receiving health and disability shocks value marriage early in life, when they are poor in both assets and work experience. As these husbands age, their gains from marriage decrease as assets are accumulated and they become more likely to trigger a renegotiation of the marital contract also known as a "midlife crisis."
