People who grow up in liberal areas are less likely to get married, research finds

If you grew up in New York City, you're 12 percent less likely than average to get married, and if you are raised in Provo, Utah, the changes you'll get hitched are almost 20 percent higher, according to a New York Times analysis of data by Harvard economists Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren. The difference appear to do as much with political ideology as geography and population density, say David Leonhardt and Kevin Quealy at The Times:

This is what that looks like on a map, with purple representing a higher chance of marriage and orange a lower chance:

Oregon and Iowa are the only 2012 blue states where marriage rates are above the national average. There's a pretty big caveat, though: The data only follow children up through age 26. The researchers insist that the pattern holds up to age 30, but it doesn't go beyond that. Surprisingly, Chetty and Hendren say the data — which also predicts future income based on geography — show causality, not just correlation. Read where your area rates at The New York Times.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up