Study Links 4G Rollout to 11-Point Marriage Drop for Non-College Men
Updated
Updated · Institute for Family Studies · Aug 19
Study Links 4G Rollout to 11-Point Marriage Drop for Non-College Men
1 articles · Updated · Institute for Family Studies · Aug 19
Summary
A new working paper finds areas that adopted 4G faster saw lower marriage rates among non-college-educated men who came of age after 2010, while college graduates showed no similar pattern.
32% of non-college men ages 21 to 30 were married in the mid-2000s versus 21% in the late 2010s, and the authors argue rising screen time mostly displaced time with friends and other leisure, not work.
About one-third of the labor-force participation decline for those men can be statistically explained by more remaining unmarried, since married men have historically worked more than single men.
The researchers use 2013 4G deployment across commuting zones and American Community Survey data as a natural comparison, but stress the evidence is suggestive rather than definitive because work and marriage were already declining before smartphones.