An exploration of couples’ awareness of divorce risk and divorce laws in the US

Last registered on May 30, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
An exploration of couples’ awareness of divorce risk and divorce laws in the US
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013681
Initial registration date
May 23, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 30, 2024, 3:18 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Adeline Delavande
Affiliation
University of Technology Sydney
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Basit Zafar
PI Affiliation
University of Michigan
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PI Name
Gizem Kosar
PI Affiliation
Federal Reserve Bank of new York
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-05-26
End date
2024-08-22
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We measure couples’ divorce expectations and knowledge of divorce law using a new online panel of spouses in the US. We provide randomized information on divorce risks to two-thirds of couples. Half of those also receive information on the division of Individual Retirement Account and 401K upon divorce. We investigate the impact of the treatments on divorce expectations and knowledge of divorce laws, as well as on saving for retirement, retirement plans and Social Security expected claiming age, of both partners.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Delavande, Adeline, Gizem Kosar and Basit Zafar. 2024. "An exploration of couples’ awareness of divorce risk and divorce laws in the US." AEA RCT Registry. May 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13681-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We provide randomized information on divorce risks to two-thirds of couples. Half of those also receive information on the division of Individual Retirement Account and 401K upon divorce.
Intervention Start Date
2024-05-26
Intervention End Date
2024-08-22

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
i. Divorce expectations
ii. Index for own expected retirement age, and Social Security claiming age, and employment expectations at age 67
iii. Index for Spouse’s expected retirement age, Social Security claiming age, and employment expectations at age 67
iv. Expectations of savings allocation and spending
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
i. Knowledge of division of property, 401K and Individual Retirement Account upon divorce
ii. Willingness to pay for receiving money as opposed to spouse (randomly incentivized for one respondents; max payoff is $1,000)
iii. Hypothetical allocation of gift between wife and husband’s individual retirement account
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our design is a randomized information intervention embedded within a survey. Eligibility to participate in the survey includes: index spouse being between 30 and 60 years old, being married, not receiving Social Security benefits, and spouse not receiving Social Security benefit, not retired, and willing to share their spouse’s email address.
The randomization is done at the couple level. Respondents will be divided in 3 groups as follows:
(1) Control group (⅓ of couples)
(2) Treatment 1: information on divorce risk in the US (⅓ of couples)
(3) Treatment 2: information on divorce risk in the US (as in treatment 1) + the division of Individual Retirement Account and 401K upon divorce (⅓ of couples)
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Couple
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not clustered
Sample size: planned number of observations
Our goal is to have 1250 couples complete.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
(1) Control group: N=417 couples
(2) Treatment 1: N=417 couples
(3) Treatment 2: N=417 couples
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Michigan IRB
IRB Approval Date
2024-05-16
IRB Approval Number
HUM00254393
Analysis Plan