For release: April 2, 2002
Contact: Charles B. Henderson, (314) 444-8311

For Love or Money: Why Married Men Make More

ST. LOUIS -- Do married men make more money than single men because (a) employers are biased toward married men, (b) marriage makes men more productive, or (c) highly productive men are simply more likely to be married? That's the $64,000 question explored by two researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The researchers are Abbigail J. Chiodo and Michael T. Owyang. Their analysis appears in the April issue of The Regional Economist, the St. Louis Fed's quarterly journal of business and economic issues.

Statistics show that married men earn approximately 11 percent more per hour than men who have never been married, even after accounting for work experience, education, age and other key factors. In addition, divorced or separated men make about 9 percent more than men who have never been married.

So why is that? "A common perception is that employers' bias may be responsible for the fact that married men earn higher wages," wrote Chiodo and Owyang. "The theory goes, employers take a man's marital status as a sign of how stable or responsible he is and discriminate accordingly. Alternatively, the employer may, consciously or unconsciously, give preference to married men when considering promotions and raises on the grounds that the married man has a family to support."

Another popular theory that Chiodo and Owyang tackle is that marriage makes men more productive through specialization. "Perhaps it is more efficient for one spouse to specialize in market production--a job with a paid wage--while the other specializes in tasks relating to the household," said Chiodo and Owyang.

They also explored another theory--known as the "selection hypothesis"--which suggests that married men tend to make more money because the traits that make a man a high wage earner also make him a good marriage partner. "After all," said Chiodo and Owyang, "the qualities listed as desirable for mates are often synonymous with those for an employee: responsibility, honesty, maturity, logic, intelligence and efficiency. Perhaps the tendency to take on responsibility at work indicates a tendency to take on responsibility and stability in his personal life."

Chiodo and Owyang cited a 2001 study supporting this hypothesis, noting that "men who possess the qualities that make them good workers also possess the qualities that make them more likely to marry and stay married."

So, is there any trait which both married and unmarried men have in common? Chiodo and Owyang cited a study that confirmed what many women have complained about for years: There is little difference between married and unmarried men in the time they spend on daily housework.

Subscriptions to The Regional Economist are free and can be obtained by calling (314) 444-8809.

With branches in Little Rock, Louisville and Memphis, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis serves the Eighth Federal Reserve District, which includes all of Arkansas, eastern Missouri, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. In addition to serving as a bank for depository institutions and the U.S. government, each Reserve Bank monitors economic conditions in the District, participates in formulating monetary policy, and supervises state-chartered member banks and bank holding companies to foster safety and soundness of the District's banking and financial institutions and to protect the credit rights of consumers.

Back to top