According to the “life-profile” theory of marriage, traditional marriage helps protect economically vulnerable spouses, in particular childbearing women, from opportunistic behavior than can arise due to asymmetries in the life profiles of the spouses. What can life-profile theory tell us about cohabitation and same-sex marriage?

Antony W. Dnes is a professor of economics at the University of Hull.
Culture and SocietyFamily
Other Independent Review articles by Antony W. Dnes
Winter 2020/21 The Autopoietic World of Franz Kafka