Does Marriage Really Make Men More Productive?

TLDR

The study investigates marital pay premiums among white male workers. The authors analyze a single firm's personnel file, comparing pay and performance across marital status within managers and professionals. Wages rise after marriage because married men occupy higher grades and receive higher performance ratings, but controlling for performance eliminates promotion differences, indicating the premium stems from a steepening earnings profile. Authors Korenman and Neumark, both NBER affiliates, are supported by the Hewlett Foundation and Harvard Center for Population Studies.

Abstract

This paper presents new descriptive evidence regarding marital pay premiums earned by white males. Longitudinal data indicate that wages rise after marriage, and that cross-sectional marriage premiums appear to result from a steepening of the earnings profile. Data from a company personnelfile that includes information on job grades and supervisor performance ratings reveal large marital status pay differences within a narrow range of occupations (managers and professionals) and environments (a single firm). Married workers tend to be located in higher paying job grades; there are very small pay differentials within grades. Married men receive higher performance ratings than single men; as a result, they are much more likely to be promoted. Controlling for rated performance, however, eliminates the promotion differential. Sanders Korenman is an assistant professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University and is a faculty associate of the Office of Population Research at Princeton University and a research affiliate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). David Neumark is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania and a research affiliate of the NBER. Korenman wishes to acknowledge the Hewlett Foundation and the Harvard University Center for Population Studies for financial support. The authors are grateful to James Medofffor making available an extract from the company personnelfile; questions regarding data availability should be directed to Professor James