Meditations and Learnings

Meditations and Learnings

The Male Marriage Premium

In the US labour market, there is a premium for male marriage. Interestingly, it is higher than the educational premium - 44% versus 34%. There are three possible causes: ability bias, signalling, and human capital. “Ability bias” points outs that those who get married are more likely to be committed and would do better in work regardless. Signalling theory argues that marriage signals values employers like to see in men. The last is the belief that men apply themselves more after marriage, perhaps taking their job and responsibilities more seriously. Bryan Caplan believes that the premium is constituted predominately of the ability bias, a small amount of signalling, and a slight increase in human capital.