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Kate Antonovics is a labor economist at the University of California, San Diego.
Is it true that married men earn more money than single guys? My research shows that there really is something about marriage that leads men to make more money -- as much as 27% more than single men.
Why is that? One hypothesis was that men who are smarter and better-looking, and who earn more money, are also more likely to marry. But we found little, if any, evidence to support that.
How did you rule it out? We used data from the Minnesota Twin Registry on sets of identical twins in which one twin was married and the other single. With twins, you can control for differences in appearance, intelligence, family background and so forth. On average, the married twin still earned a surprising amount more than the unmarried twin.
What is it about marriage that boosts a man's income? There are several theories. Because of the pressure to provide for a spouse and children, married men may work harder and be more assertive about seeking raises and better job opportunities. Or perhaps they spend less time doing the dishes and laundry and more time getting better at their jobs. Still another explanation is that employers discriminate in favor of married men when giving raises and promotions. I hope to do more research to come up with a definite answer.
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