Marriage significantly lessens the wage gap between white and black workers but doesn''t appear to affect the pay disparity between men and women, according to two recent studies. The first study, comprised of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, found that among blacks and whites, married couples were more likely to earn $50,000 or more per year. Nearly a third of all black married couples surveyed had annual incomes equal to or greater than $75,000.
The study also found that families headed by single moms had higher poverty rates. Thirty-five percent of black families were headed by women in 2001, compared to 19 percent for whites. While blacks generally lag behind whites in areas such as income, employment, and education, the study revealed that more black men are moving into management positions, more black females are completing college, and more African- Americans are entering the workforce.
The impact of marriage doesn''t appear to have offered women any significant gains in pay, however. The study, "Marriage, Motherhood and Money: How Do Women´s Decisions Influence Their Wages?" published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, found that married men earn 11 percent more than single men and two percent more than divorced men. Married women, on the other hand, didn''t experience a similar wage boost.
There are three theories offered by academics for the study´s findings that married men generally earn higher wages than single men. Some believe employers pay married men more generously because they have a family to support. Others believe that marriage makes men more productive in the workplace. And yet others say that highly productive men are more likely to marry.
Those theories don''t generally apply to women, according to the study. Abbigail Chiodo, a researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank, notes that some employers perceive married female workers differently than they do married male workers. For example, an employer may view a married woman as more likely to have additional household responsibilities (without regard to whether she has children). In addition, married female workers are perceived to be more likely to leave the workforce to bear children than unmarried female employees.
Copyright 2003 M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC. This article contributed by *California Employment Law Letter*. Read more about the print newsletter and its editors at California Employment Law Letter