Marriage, cohabitation and women's response to changes in the male wage structure
Using microdata and grouped data that cover the period 1996 to 2006, we assess the extent to which cohabiting women adjust their labour supply to a lesser extent, if any, than married women in response to changes in male wages. Both microdata regressions and grouping estimators unambiguously indicate that cohabiting women respond less to variation in male wages than married women. However, the magnitude of the difference is not sizeable. We also assess the magnitude of married men's and cohabiting men's own wage elasticities and find that they do not differ much. Combined with the fact that male earnings account for roughly two-thirds of family earnings, these two findings explain why the impact of changes in male wages on family earnings is very similar for married couples and cohabiting couples: in both cases, a 10% decline in male wages appears to induce roughly a 6% drop in family earnings.
Year of publication: |
2012
|
---|---|
Authors: | Morissette, René ; Lu, Yuqian ; Hou, Feng |
Published in: |
Applied Economics. - Taylor & Francis Journals, ISSN 0003-6846. - Vol. 44.2012, 19, p. 2499-2516
|
Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis Journals |
Saved in:
Online Resource
Saved in favorites
Similar items by person
-
Marriage, cohabitation and women's response to changes in the male wage structure
Morissette, René, (2012)
-
Marriage, Cohabitation and Women’s Response to Changes in the Male Wage Structure
Hou, Feng, (2009)
-
Wages, youth employment, and school enrollment : recent evidence from increases in world oil prices
Morissette, René, (2015)
- More ...