Two, they say, is better than one. And research has actually shown that married men make more money than their unmarried counterparts. University of Michigan's Martha Hill was the first to discover (or is it, document) that fact, in 1979.
What is Marriage Premium?
Marriage premium, or male marriage premium, refers to the proven fact that married men earn more than unmarried men, and that difference is called the marriage premium. And some studies have reported a wage difference as high as 44%.
And this is true even with other factors held constant
As the study showed, "One of the more persistent findings in labor and family economics is that married men tend to earn more than single men, even when age, prior work experience, and many other personal characteristics are controlled for. This difference in earnings has generally been quite large. For example, studies...suggested that married men tended to earn between 10% and 40% more than their single counterparts, and that marriage was as important as race, firm size, and union membership in determining a man’s wage."
Other statistics show that married men earn approximately 11 percent more per hour than men who have never been married, even after controlling for work experience, education, age and other factors. Economists also find that divorced or separated men make about 9 percent more than never-married men do. The wage gap, present at all ages, is even wider for those 45 and older
Possible reasons and hypotheses;
1. The Selection hypothesis, which posits that men that are more likely to get married are also more likely to have the character traits required for career success. (If you get along with your spouse, you can probably get along with you colleagues.)
2. Married men earn more because of Specialization (of labor), i.e because married men don't cook or do the dishes and other household chores, they become more productive at work.
3. Marriage-as-education hypothesis, which suggests that married men might learn valuable skills from their marriage -skills such as self control and commitment, useful in the office.
4. The Discrimination hypothesis, which says that employers are biased against bachelors. It is otherwise called Favoritism hypothesis (i.e employers favor married men even when both have same productivity).
Yes, companies pay married men higher, because they trust them more. A friend of mine who works in a bank here in Nigeria told me that companies, especially financial institutions, tend to believe that a married man (settled with his family in that same city) is less likely to commit fraud than a single man, simply because he has more at stake and is believed to be more responsible.
In fact, that same bank promoted a man whose wife delivered triplets (-not long after the delivery). Whether that was the main reason for the promotion, it is hard to tell.
Does marriage make men more productive, or are (more) productive men more likely to get married?
Some schools of thought believe that married men are more conscientious, ambitious, and cooperative, and unmarried men lack these traits. So that it is more productive men who get married in the first place, not marriage making men (necessarily) more productive.
Other important facts
Ironically, married women earn 10% less than unmarried women.
And cohabiting couples have been found to share similar qualities with singles (-people who live alone).
Concluding
Premium in Insurance refers to the amount of money paid by the insured party to the insurer as a form of compensation for the risk they bear, on their behalf. Marriage premium, I presume, is therefore nature's (extra) wage to the married man for the risk of marriage/married life, that he bears. lol
Now, more than ever, I am encouraged to tie the knot. I must get married this year.
["Sijinius, were you seeking absolute reasons to convince you of the benefits of marriage?" Maybe. lol]
Thanks for reading. Cheers!
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