Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/177186 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 11382
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
In most of the developed world, skilled women marry at a lower rate than unskilled women. We document heterogeneity across countries in how the marriage gap for skilled women has evolved over time. As labor market opportunities for women have improved, the marriage gap has been growing in some countries but shrinking in others. We discuss the comparative statics of a theoretical model in which the (negative) social attitudes toward working women might contribute to the lower marriage rate of skilled women, and might also induce a non-monotonic relationship between their labor market prospects and their marriage outcomes. The model delivers predictions about how the marriage gap for skilled women should react to changes in their labor market opportunities across economies with more or less conservative attitudes toward working women. We verify the key predictions of this model in a panel of 26 developed countries, as well as in a panel of US states.
Subjects: 
social norms
marriage gap
labor market opportunities
JEL: 
J12
J16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.