Abstract
This paper argues that distributions of spousal earnings gaps provide no identifying information for the male breadwinner norm, nor such a norm’s consequences for gender inequality. First, we show that simple marital matching models—without norm-related assumptions—closely replicate U.S. distributions of wife-husband earnings gaps. Second, we show that the discontinuity in this distribution as wives start to out-earn husbands reflects not breadwinner norms, but rather a point mass of equal-earning couples. We conclude by arguing that the point mass may also threaten other tests of the male breadwinner hypothesis, and proposing several robustness checks that future research should utilize.
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