Data for: How the other half lived: Marriage and emancipation in the age of the Pill

Abstract of associated article: The contraceptive Pill was FDA approved in 1960. However, it would be another decade before young unmarried women had full access. In the meantime, marriage constituted a way to the Pill. The later 1960s/early 1970s also saw a convergence on 18 as the minimum age of marriage, many states lowering it from 21. Exploiting these law changes, we find that a lowered minimum age precipitated marriage, delayed marital fertility, and improved women׳s educational and occupational outcomes. Marriage easing credit constraints combined with the contraceptive properties of the Pill form the hypothesized pathway.关联文章摘要：口服避孕药（contraceptive Pill）于1960年获得美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）批准。然而，年轻未婚女性完全获取该药物又耗时十载。彼时，婚姻是获取避孕药的途径之一。20世纪60年代末至70年代初，以18岁作为法定最低结婚年龄的标准逐渐达成共识，诸多州将原21岁的法定婚龄下调。本研究借助这些法律变革开展实证分析，结果显示：法定最低结婚年龄的下调催生了婚姻行为，推迟了已婚女性的生育时间，并改善了女性的教育与职业发展成果。婚姻缓解信贷约束的效应与避孕药的避孕特性共同构成了本研究提出的理论作用路径。