New research suggests that getting married can affect men’s earnings differently depending on the country: German men tend to earn more after marriage, while U.S. men with children see a decrease in their earnings, and U.K. men experience a slight increase. These financial outcomes are influenced by various factors, including the partner’s education level, the man’s age, and the country’s tax policies. he study was published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.
The relationship between marital status and earnings has long fascinated researchers. Traditionally, studies indicate that married men often enjoy a “marriage premium,” earning more than their single peers, possibly due to increased stability, shared responsibilities, and societal expectations. Conversely, married women may face a “marriage penalty” in earnings, especially if they take career breaks or reduce working hours to manage household duties or childcare.
However, these trends are changing, and the impact of marriage on earnings varies greatly depending on factors such as the couple’s work-life balance, educational backgrounds, and whether they have dual incomes. Tax policies in many countries also differ for married individuals, those supporting families, or children, potentially influencing decisions on marriage based on its impact on disposable income. Additionally, the effects of tax policies are not uniform across different income levels, necessitating in-depth research and nuanced analysis of the financial implications of marriage.
Study authors Manuel Schechtl and Nicole Kapelle wanted to examine how different institutional settings lead to tax advantages or disadvantages that shape the net earnings of married men in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. They note that many theories propose that men’s earning tend to increase after marriage, either because they become more productive or because employers prefer married men. However, tax policies may also change the net earnings of men after marriage regardless of their net earnings.
These authors hypothesized that entry into marriage will be associated with an increase in income for men in Germany and the United Kingdom, but a reduction in earning in the United States. They also expected a more significant increase for men married to less educated women, who are presumably less likely to adhere to egalitarian gender norms. They anticipated stronger effects for older generations and fathers compared to younger, childless men.
To conduct their study, the authors analyzed data from three longitudinal household panels: the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID, 1977–2017), the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP, 1984–2019), and the U.K. Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS, 2009–2019), covering a broad range of topics, including detailed income measures and marital status transitions.
The study focused on working men aged 18 to 59 living in private households who either entered their first marriage or remained single or cohabiting during the panel. The researchers tracked these men for up to five years within their marriage or until the marriage dissolved. The final sample included 3,244 men from the United States, 4,581 from Germany, and 7,140 from the United Kingdom.
The researchers monitored the men’s net earnings and tax burdens throughout the study period, considering other income sources as well. They analyzed earnings on an individual level, correlating this information with marital status, current educational pursuits, the presence of children in the household, and whether the participant was single or cohabiting.
The results indicated that married individuals typically had slightly higher gross and net earnings across all three countries. The calculated tax burden was also marginally higher for married men in the United States and the United Kingdom. In Germany, the tax burden was slightly higher for unmarried men, but those never married had a lower tax burden than the other two groups.
These differences were below 1% in Germany and the United Kingdom, but more significant in the United States (19.47% for married men vs. 15.60% for those never married), with the overall tax burden being highest in Germany.
Looking at data on an individual level, and keeping the gross earnings constant, the study authors found that men in Germany experienced a roughly 2% decrease in tax burden upon marriage, with no significant change observed for men in the United Kingdom or the United States.
A similar analysis indicated that German men experience an increase of their earning by almost 4% as they get married, while U.K. men saw a 3% increase, and U.S. men experienced an 8% decrease. The increase was more pronounced for German men married to less educated women, whereas the decrease in earnings for U.S. men was more significant when married to highly educated women. The spouse’s education level did not significantly affect the earnings increase in the United Kingdom.
Further analysis showed that the reduction in earnings in U.S. men was entirely due to reduced earnings of men with children. Childless U.S. men experienced no reduction in earnings after marriage.
German and U.K. men who were born before 1976 saw a higher increase in earnings after they entered marriage compared to men born later.
“Overall, our results demonstrated how the policy context can lead to different economic outcomes as individuals get married and how men are advantaged or penalized. Specifically, we revealed that marriage is particularly beneficial for men in Germany as they experience a substantial marital premium on net earnings. Marriage seems slightly less advantageous for men’s net earnings in the UK. Findings suggest a marriage penalty in the United States although this result is not robust across several supplementary analyses,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the links between marital status and men’s earnings. However, it should be noted that the study followed only statistical links between marriage, earnings and demographics and did not explore the underlying mechanisms in details. Additionally, the study looked at the individual income of men only. Looking at household income as a whole might paint a somewhat different picture. Finally, all the observed differences were relatively small.
The paper, “The male marital earnings premium contextualized: Longitudinal evidence from the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom,” was authored by Manuel Schechtl and Nicole Kapelle.
