We exploit between-cohort variation in the probability of military service to investigate how
World War II and the G.I. Bill altered the structure of marriage, and find that they had important
spillover effects beyond their direct effect on men’s educational attainment. Our analyses further
motivate instruments to help identify the effect of men’s education on spousal “quality.” We
find that the additional education received by returning veterans allowed them to “sort” into
wives with comparably higher levels of education. This suggests an important mechanism by
which socioeconomic status may be passed on to the next generation.