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Being Married Pays off
Marital status impacts men's and women's earnings differently; women's earnings stay the same or decrease after marriage. That is understandable since married women are likely to spend more time managing the household and child-rearing. As a result, their average wages tend to drop once they wed. As for men, questions remain. ‘Marriage Premium’, a paper by A. Aistov and N. Kovalenko, attempts to answer some of them.
The authors examine the data of the HSE's Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) to test two hypotheses that may explain the 'marriage premium' for men. One hypothesis if that of selection; it suggests that the same personal characteristics – being hard-working and honest – make men more likely to find a well-paid job and a marriage partner. The other hypothesis is that of impact; it suggests a causal relationship between marriage and being productive in the labor market. The assumption is that a married man feels a greater responsibility than his unmarried counterpart; therefore, he is more productive and works harder to be rewarded or promoted.
A body of empirical research on the 'marriage premium' reveals the significant impact marriage has on the male spouse's earnings. Some researchers explain this by the fact that wives traditionally take care of the household duties, enabling their husbands to devote more time and energy to paid employment. Other research papers link a man's higher earnings to his advantages in the 'marriage market'.
Graph 1. Monthly working hours, including secondary employment
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Source: A. Aistov, N. Kovalenko, Marriage Premium
Graph 1 shows that married men not only earn more but also spend more hours at work, suggesting a greater interest in earnings. Cohabiting partners tend to work more than formally married spouses; on the other hand, married men are more productive, leading to higher earnings per hour. Interestingly, widowers and divorced men also tend to earn more than men who have never been married; a possible explanation is that married men develop a certain habit that is carried over to their subsequent single life.
Graph 2. Monthly earnings per work hour
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Source: A. Aistov, N. Kovalenko, Marriage Premium
To avoid a false correlation, researchers controlled other variables: eg the fact that marriage and the growth of earnings occur at approximately the same time in life may significantly distort the findings.
The testing of the hypotheses has revealed a few interesting trends. For example, the future husband's earnings begin to grow four years before the wedding and two years before moving in with his partner. The effect may be associated with his getting acquainted with his future wife, but it is impossible to verify this assumption with the data available. Another finding is that the 'divorce penalty', ie a drop in earnings following a divorce, tends to be much less than the rise in earnings associated with marriage. The marriage premium follows a U-curve, with the lowest point at 35-36 years and more significant increases in earnings before and after that age.