RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Is There a Male-Breadwinner Norm? The Hazards of Inferring Preferences from Marriage Market Outcomes
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 1885
OP 1914
DO 10.3368/jhr.58.2.0320-10803R1
VO 57
IS 6
A1 Binder, Ariel J.
A1 Lam, David
YR 2022
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/57/6/1885.abstract
AB We find 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 outearn 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.