title: The declining marital-status earnings differential.
abstract: "Earnings differentials between married and unmarried [U.S.] men have been declining since the late 1960s.  We consider two possible explanations for this decline:  changes in the nature of selection into marriage; and changes in role specialization within marriage.  Our analysis of changes in marriage differentials within cohorts supports only a small contribution of changes in selection.  There is some evidence that differences in human-capital investment between married and unmarried men have fallen over time, but this effect has apparently been largely offset by increases in the return to that human capital."  This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1991 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America.
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D004467:Economics; D006280:Health Workforce; D007182:Income; D017533:Marital Status; D008393:Marriage; D009656:North America; D011153:Population; D011154:Population Characteristics; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States
keywords: Americas; Cohort Analysis; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Economic Factors; Human Capital; Human Resources; Income--determinants; Macroeconomic Factors; Marital Status; Marriage; Marriage Patterns; North America; Northern America; Nuptiality; Population; Population Characteristics; Sex Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; United States; Wages--changes