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Male wage inequality and marital dissolution: Is there a link?

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  • Andriana Bellou

Abstract

After almost a century‐long pattern of rising marital instability, divorce rates levelled off in 1980 and have been declining ever since. The timing of deceleration and decline in the rates of marital dissolution interestingly coincides with a period of substantial growth in wage inequality. This paper establishes a novel connection between the two phenomena and discusses potential explanations for the underlying link. Using female marital histories in a duration analysis framework combined with regional and temporal variation in the pattern of male wage dispersion, I show that inequality has a significant stabilizing effect on the marriage. Quantitatively, increases in male wage dispersion can roughly explain up to 30% of the fall in the mean separation probability between 1979 and 1990. Several plausible explanations are discussed: changes in spousal labour supplies, female wage inequality, income uncertainty, social capital as well as a hypothesis where inequality renders the option to divorce less attractive by making remarriage more difficult. Inégalité de la rémunération des hommes et taux de dissolution des mariages: Y‐a‐t‐il un lien? Après un pattern quasi‐séculaire de croissance de l'instabilité maritale, les taux de divorce se sont stabilisés autour de 1980 et ont décliné depuis. On a noté que la décélération et le déclin dans les taux de divorce ont correspondu à une période de croissance substantielle dans les inégalités de salaires. Ce texte établit une connexion inédite entre ces deux phénomènes et discute d'explications potentielles pour ce lien. En utilisant des histoires maritales de femmes dans un cadre d'analyse de la durée, combinées à l'étude de variation dans les patterns régionaux et temporels de la dispersion des salaires des hommes, on montre que l'inégalité a un effet stabilisateur significatif sur le mariage. Quantitativement, les accroissements dans la dispersion des salaires des hommes expliquent jusqu'à 30 % de la chute dans la probabilité moyenne de séparation entre 1979 et 1990. Plusieurs explications plausibles sont discutées : changements dans l'offre de travail des époux, inégalité dans le salaire des femmes, incertitude des revenus, capital social, tout autant que l'hypothèse que l'inégalité rend l'option du divorce moins attrayante à proportion que le remariage est plus difficile.

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  • Andriana Bellou, 2017. "Male wage inequality and marital dissolution: Is there a link?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(1), pages 40-71, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:50:y:2017:i:1:p:40-71
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12250
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    2. Hani Mansour & Terra McKinnish, 2023. "Male wage inequality and characteristics of “early mover” marriages," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 115-138, January.
    3. Berthold, Norbert & Gründler, Klaus, 2014. "On the empirics of social mobility: A macroeconomic approach," Discussion Paper Series 128, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    4. Sonia Oreffice & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2012. "Fat spouses and hours of work: are body and Pareto weights correlated?," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Berthold Norbert & Gründler Klaus, 2014. "Empirie sozialer Mobilität und wirtschaftspolitische Implikationen / The Determinants of Social Mobility and their Implications for Economic Policy," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 65(1), pages 279-302, January.

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    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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