Sociological Explorations of the Marital Wage Premium

Abstract

One of the most robust findings within the literature on wages is that married men have been found to have higher personal wages than unmarried men—a phenomenon called the marital wage premium. Although the literature documenting the marital wage premium is extensive, an examination of this literature through a sociological lens reveals three key unexplored issues. First, one theoretical explanation of the marital wage premium is that being married involves more responsible decisionmaking and lifestyle changes that help men be more productive. The literature also shows a connection between marriage and mental and physical health, both of which are shown to be related to worker productivity. Numerous studies have been published on the effects of marriage on alcohol and drug use and criminal behavior, physical and mental health, and other health behaviors; however, within the marital wage premium literature, little, if any, empirical attention has been directed at these potential explanations of the marital wage premium. Second, much of the sociological literature on the benefits of marriage in terms of child academic and emotional well-being and adult physical and psychological well-being has suggested the importance not just of marital status, but of marital quality; however, considerations of marital quality have been almost entirely absent from the marital wage premium literature. Third, the extent to which the marital wage premium can be generalized across race/ethnicity groups is not clear. In fact, most empirical marital wage premium studies have excluded people of color. In response to these identified gaps in the marital wage premium literature, I conduct three distinct studies using the Survey of Americans’ Changing Lives (ACL).

Overall, the results did not support the research hypotheses. Lifestyle did not mediate the marital wage premium. Although being divorced or never having been married was associated with an increased number of chronic and debilitating health conditions, these variables did not mediate the marital wage premium. In addition, marital quality was not found to be relevant to the marital wage premium. Wages did not differ significantly for men in either high- or low-quality marriages, relative to men from a marriage of average quality. Finally, lifestyle, physical health variables, and marital quality did not account for the difference in magnitude in the marital wage premium for White and Black men. However, marriage was shown to decrease depression, but only for White men, and depression was shown to decrease wages—but, again, only for White men. Still, depression accounts for less than 5 percent of the wage premium for White males. Although it was not possible to directly test with the ACL data, the collective results from the present research and a review of adjacent literature suggest that it may be employer discrimination, rather than some productivity-enhancing dynamic occurring within marriage, that accounts for the marital wage premium.