Who Matters More in a Move: You or Your Spouse?

New research finds couples are more likely to move for a job when it benefits the man, even when the woman’s career stands to benefit more by moving

By Dalvin Brown of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Couples are moving again for better job opportunities. They are more likely to make those moves when the husband’s earnings stand to benefit. 

Men’s earnings increase 5% to 10% after a move, while women’s earnings tend to stagnate, according to a September study of opposite-sex couples led by economist Seema Jayachandran of Princeton University.

The study finds that they are more likely to go through with it to improve the man’s earnings—even in cases when the woman’s career stands to benefit more by moving."

"The relocation penalty for women is a rarely examined factor of why women’s earnings often lag behind men’s. While more women are working than ever before, some of what’s holding them back professionally comes from decisions made inside the household.

“This imbalance is a hidden factor that keeps women from advancing as quickly as men in their careers,” Jayachandran said. “It’s rooted in household decisions rather than workplace bias.”"

"This pattern of losing ground on earnings is common for women, who more often relocate for their partner’s job, according to Jeremy Burke, a senior economist at the University of Southern California.

His 2018 study on military families found that nonmilitary spouses typically face a 15% reduction in earnings after a move, with losses persisting for at least two years. The drop would likely be higher if the study included spouses who dropped out of the workforce entirely, he said."

Related post:

Is there sufficient evidence to conclude that women experience systematic pay discrimination? (2013)

Is there sufficient evidence to conclude that women experience systematic pay discrimination? Not according to Harvard economist Claudia Goldin. See The Truth About the Pay Gap: Feminist politics and bad economics by Steve Chapman. Here is an excerpt from that article:

"I [Chapman] asked Harvard economist Claudia Goldin if there is sufficient evidence to conclude that women experience systematic pay discrimination. "No," she replied. There are certainly instances of discrimination, she says, but most of the gap is the result of different choices. Other hard-to-measure factors, Goldin thinks, largely account for the remaining gap -- "probably not all, but most of it."

The divergent career paths of men and women may reflect a basic unfairness in what's expected of them. It could be that a lot of mothers, if they had their way, would rather pursue careers but have to stay home with the kids because their husbands insist. Or it may be that for one reason or another, many mothers prefer to take on the lion's share of child-rearing. In any case, the pay disparity caused by these choices can't be blamed on piggish employers.

June O'Neill, an economist at Baruch College and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, has uncovered something that debunks the discrimination thesis. Take out the effects of marriage and child-rearing, and the difference between the genders suddenly vanishes. "For men and women who never marry and never have children, there is no earnings gap," she said in an interview."

The time demands of many jobs can explain much of the gender pay gap (2017)

Do Some Sellers on eBay Have an Edge Over Other Sellers? (2016) 

See Male Sellers on eBay Have an Edge Over Women, Study Finds. By PAM BELLUCK of the NY Times.