Are There Gains to Delaying Marriage? The Effect of Age at First Marriage on Career Development and Wages

Age at first marriage has risen dramatically since the mid-1960s among a wide spectrum of the U.S. population. Researchers have considered many possible explanations for this trend. Few, though, have asked why individuals should want to delay marriage in the first place. One possibility is that early marriage inhibits the career development of one or both individuals in a marriage. We test this hypothesis using data from the NLSY79. Using panel data methods that exploit longitudinal variation in wages and marriage timing, we estimate that delaying marriage increases hourly wages of women by nearly four percent for each year they delay. Marriage timing has no impact on the wages of men. We find that delaying marriage may have costs as well. All else equal, women who delay marriage marry spouses with lower wages. ∗We gratefully acknowledge financial support for this research from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development under Grant No. 5R03HD40853-02. Please direct correspondence to Loughran at the address listed above. Are There Gains to Delaying Marriage? The Effect of Age at First Marriage on Career Development and Wages Abstract Age at first marriage has risen dramatically since the mid-1960s among a wide spectrum of the U.S. population. Researchers have considered many possible explanations for this trend. Few, though, have asked why individuals should want to delay marriage in the first place. One possibility is that early marriage inhibits the career development of one or both individuals in a marriage. We test this hypothesis using data from the NLSY79. Using panel data methods that exploit longitudinal variation in wages and marriage timing, we estimate that delaying marriage increases hourly wages of women by nearly four percent for each year they delay. Marriage timing has no impact on the wages of men. We find that delaying marriage may have costs as well. All else equal, women who delay marriage marry spouses with lower wages.Age at first marriage has risen dramatically since the mid-1960s among a wide spectrum of the U.S. population. Researchers have considered many possible explanations for this trend. Few, though, have asked why individuals should want to delay marriage in the first place. One possibility is that early marriage inhibits the career development of one or both individuals in a marriage. We test this hypothesis using data from the NLSY79. Using panel data methods that exploit longitudinal variation in wages and marriage timing, we estimate that delaying marriage increases hourly wages of women by nearly four percent for each year they delay. Marriage timing has no impact on the wages of men. We find that delaying marriage may have costs as well. All else equal, women who delay marriage marry spouses with lower wages.