Does Marriage Really Make Men More

This paper presents new descriptive evidence regarding marital pay premiums earned hy white males. Longitudinal data indicate that wages rise after marriage, and that cross-sectional marriage premiums appear to result from a steepening of the earnings pro-file. Data from a company personnel file that includes information on job grades and supervisor performance ratings reveal large marital status pay differences within a narrow range of occupa-tions (managers and professionals) and environments (a single firm). Married workers tend to be located in higher paying job grades; there are very small pay differentials within grades. Mar-ried men receive higher performance ratings than single men: as a result, they are much more likely to he promoted. Controlling for rated performance, however, eliminates the promotion differ-ential. Sanders Korenman is an assistant professor of economics and public affairs al Princeton University and is a faculty associate of the Office of Population Research at Princeto