Who Plans to Marry? Economic Security and Marital Intentions Among Never‐Married Adults in Türkiye

ABSTRACT Objective To examine how three dimensions of economic security, namely employment position, wealth, and income, are associated with the marital intentions of never‐married adults in Türkiye, and to formally test whether these associations differ by gender. Background Marriage remains the dominant pathway to family formation in Türkiye, yet marriage is increasingly postponed amid economic uncertainty. Existing policy measures largely target the immediate costs of marrying rather than the underlying economic security that shapes whether marriage is perceived as feasible. Method By using the 2016 Türkiye Family Structure Survey, ordered logit models are estimated separately by gender and reported as average marginal effects on the probability of intending to marry; gender differences are tested formally in pooled models interacting gender with all covariates. Results Public‐sector employment is associated with higher marital intentions and student status with lower intentions for both genders, whereas labor‐market inactivity predicts lower intentions only among men. Car and other‐asset ownership are positively associated with men's, but not women's intentions, although gender differences in these differences are not statistically distinguishable. Significant gender differences emerge instead in education. Tertiary‐educated women are more likely, and tertiary‐educated men less likely, to intend to marry relative to their less‐educated counterparts. Conclusion Employment‐based security is the most consistent correlate of marital intentions for both women and men, consistent with uncertainty‐based accounts of marriage timing. Implications Policies that foster stable employment and predictable labor‐market entry for young adults may be more relevant to family formation than measures targeting wedding costs alone.