The Male Marriage Premium: An Analysis of the Hypotheses and Proposed Mechanisms

Abstract

The male marriage premium, or the observation that married men tend to out earn their unmarried counterparts, has long been a subject of interest in the labor economics and family dynamics literature. This study contributes to the literature by providing support for the idea that a portion of the marriage premium can be attributed to a spurious correlation between marriage and rapid wage growth during the transition to adulthood. Furthermore, it also examines the validity of the mechanisms proposed to spur a causal effect between marriage and higher wages as well as the claim that the premium may be attributable to employer discrimination. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) dataset, the analysis reveals minimal evidence that marriage itself causally influences wages. Instead, it is found that the anticipation of marriage and transition from singlehood may play a key role in shaping wage outcomes. Overall, the findings have broader implications for family dynamics, labor economics, and social policies, highlighting the need for further research on the economic determinants of family formation and income inequality across different cultural and geographic contexts.