Here’s something you can take to the bank: Married engineers make more money than those who can’t
bring themselves to tie the knot—a lot more. In fact, according to our Reader Profile Survey, the marriage
premium extends across every age group and all demographic attributes. Of course, being married is much
more expensive than being single, so it’s doubtful that married engineers have more disposable income
than their single compatriots. Nonetheless, their paychecks are definitely bigger.
What’s the link between marriage and higher wages? No one really knows for certain. One school of
thought suggests that marriage itself leads to higher wages, because employers perceive married employees
as stable and hardworking. Another proposes that singles and employers have a common interest in
finding good-looking mates, even though physical appearance doesn’t guarantee a successful relationship
in either situation.
Hal R. Varian, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and an economic columnist at The New
York Times, has studied income differentials between married and single people and says the jury is still
out on the subject. “Married people have spouses who share responsibility for household chores and provide
other sorts of assistance, which theoretically could make them more productive,” says Varian. “But
there could also be an element of irrational prejudice involved that makes employers view married people
as more productive, more reliable, and more committed—whether or not these things are true about an individual
or the group as a whole.”
Of course, there may be no causal connection whatsoever. It may simply be that the same personal attributes
that enable people to commit to and succeed in their marriages may contribute to a more successful
career—in terms of both work performance
and relationships with
co-workers and bosses.
It appears that while marriage
may not guarantee happiness, it
almost guarantees a larger salary
in engineering. Deciding whether
trading in the single life for a
salary lift is worth it, though, is
entirely different.
See associated figure
