OUP accepted manuscript

Abstract

Previous research has shown considerable marriage premiums in earnings for men, but often penalties for women of being in a union. In this study we extend this research by analyzing how the age difference between spouses affects the earnings profiles by gender. As we follow people over time in advance as well as within their marriage we can separate pre-marital from post-marital earnings movements. The data consists of information on annual earnings 1990-2009 for all Swedes born 1960-1974 (N=926,219). The results indicate that age-homogamy is related to higher earnings for both men and women, and that larger age differences are generally associated with lower union premiums, quite independently of which spouse is older. However, most of these results are explained by assortative mating, in which men and women with greater earnings potentials find partners of a similar age. Overall, the agedifference between spouses seems to have a limited causal effect, if any, on individual earnings.

The demography of swiping right. An overview of couples who met through dating apps in Switzerland

“…Age difference applies only to heterosexual couples and similar to other research [62], distinguishes between "age homogamy" (the male partner is 0-2 years older than the female partner), "age hypergamy" (the man is at least 3 years older), and "age hypogamy" (the woman is at least 3 years older). Finally, geographical exogamy was created using information on how much time (in minutes) it takes the respondent to reach their partner's residence.…”

Is the age difference between partners related to women's earnings?

“…Similar dynamics could be driving our results if strongly career-oriented women were self-selecting into partnerships with older men. However, the same authors found that high-earning Swedish women were self-selecting partners of a similar age rather than partnerships with older men (Dribe and Nystedt 2017).…”

“…To date, studies that have investigated the impact of a spousal age gap on earnings have found that women who marry men men of similar age out-earn women who marry older men (Dribe and Nystedt 2017;Mansour and McKinnish 2014). In their analysis of how the earnings of Swedish women change before and after partnership formation, Dribe and Nystedt (2017) found that wage differences based on the marital age gap were already present prior to union formation. Thus, the authors attributed this pattern to selection through assortative mating rather than characterizing it as a true causal effect.…”