The age of hedonic marriage

Taken directly from The Economist (www.economist.com)

"THE INSTITUTION of holy matrimony is sacred if anything is. But nothing, nothing is immune from the profane transformative power of market forces! In a new essay in Cato Unbound, University of Pennsylvania economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers show that the traditional marriage of Mike Huckabee's dreams was a contingent adaptation to economic conditions long past. "So what drives modern marriage?" the Penn duo asks...

We believe that the answer lies in a shift from the family as a forum for shared production, to shared consumption. In case the language of economic lacks romance, let’s be clearer: modern marriage is about love and companionship. Most things in life are simply better shared with another person: this ranges from the simple pleasures such as enjoying a movie or a hobby together, to shared social ties such as attending the same church, and finally, to the joint project of bringing up children. Returning to the language of economics, the key today is consumption complementarities--activities that are not only enjoyable, but are more enjoyable when shared with a spouse. We call this new model of sharing our lives “hedonic marriage”.

So is marriage doomed? Marriage in which one person specializes in the home while the other person specializes in the market is indeed doomed. The opportunity cost of having women stay out of the labor force is likely to continue to rise — particularly as young women are surpassing men in educational attainment and higher education is becoming more important for market success. The reach of markets will continue to expand, allowing individuals and families to reap the returns to specialization through market-mediated trade with other specialists, rather than requiring a domestic specialist in each home

This "hedonic marriage" business sounds decadent. Can we count on overgrown teenagers seeking only self-actualisation and bound only by puppy love to take seriously their duty to fill the nation's wombs with enough future taxpayers to meet pension liabilities? Probably not! But there's always immigrants. Or pension reform.

Ms Stevenson and Mr Wolfer's last point above reinforces one of my favourite strategies for ramping down the gender war. Men don't need to do more housework and childcare to achieve equality. Women just need to do less. My dad used to change the oil in our family cars. I certainly don't. I suffer exactly zero shame from the fact that I don't even know how. There are specialists who do this sort of thing. Real women's liberation and gender equality will come when social expectations shift enough to allow families to guiltlessly take full advantage of the returns to specialisation."