Re-Thinking the Western European Marriage Pattern: the Decision to Marry in Ireland at The Turn of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

John Hajnal's influential neo-Malthusian model of nuptiality in historical northwestern Europe makes economic conditions the regulator of the age at marriage and the proportion marrying, and so is in principle an economic theory of marriage. Yet because it over-simplifies the economic consequences of marriage for young adults, Hajnal's model cannot account for important differences in the incentive to marry implied by different economic and social environments. An alternative, non-Malthusian view of Ireland's nuptiality history suggests the need to integrate decisions by young adults about marriage into a broader appreciation of the consequences of marriage and permanent celibacy in concrete economic and social environments.