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Subscribe to RSSDeclining marriage rates may be harming the U.S. economy, according to a report by brokerage firm ConvergEx, which draws a correlation between fewer couples tying the knot and falling personal income growth.
In a report on Monday, ConvergEx said personal income growth in the U.S. stood at 2.9 percent per year in 2010, under half the 50-year average of 5.9 percent.
The report's authors Nicholas Colas, Beth Reed and Sarah Millar noted marriage rates among the general population have fallen sharply during the same time period, with only 56 percent of American adults currently married, versus 72 percent in 1970.
As a result, fewer men are benefiting from the “marriage wage premium” — the term coined by labor economists to describe the phenomenon whereby married men earn between 10 and 50 percent more than those who are single (the same does not apply for women). Economists disagree as to the reasons why, but some suggest marriage results in lifestyle changes that require greater consumer spending, leading men to develop a stronger work ethic and hence earn more.
“Using the argument that married men work harder because they have an obligation to support their family, then single men have less of an incentive to work hard since perhaps their biggest financial obligation is rent for an apartment,” the ConvergEx authors wrote.
They warned that a continued fall in marriage rates could hamper the U.S.’s ability to rejuvenate its economy.
“Marriage is an income-boosting measure. Less of it translates into weaker personal income growth, and consumer spending could take a (potentially long-term, structural) hit,” the authors said.
In addition, both male and female participation in the labor force is at record lows, with only 57.6 percent of women working and 70.1 percent of men. (Read More: One Billion Women to Enter Workplace in Next Decade)
The report warned: “Whatever the cause, the combination of fewer people of both sexes working and fewer dual-income households doesn’t bode well for the economy.”
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Wish I could get married... but I live in GA where I'm not allowed to marry who I love.
Oh, honestly! Married people make up less than half of the adult population, and it's simply not true that they're more productive than singles. They do tend to have cushier lifestyles and more disposable income because of being able to rely on more than one income, and because of being entitled to more health, dental, and retirement benefits. Their finances are generally more secure if both people work. They receive a ton of freebies when they commit matrimony (in the form of multiple mandatory parties and gifts from friends and family). They also tend to receive less of the mandatory overtime, weekend work, and grunt work that gets foisted onto single people "because they have nothing better to do", while receiving more than their share of the promotions. Why? While the lesser caste (singles and people who can't marry) are busy doing all the involuntary night and weekend shifts, the entitled caste has the plum daytime shifts where they're in front of the people who have the authority to promote.
Instead of spouting matrimaniac nonsense, try reading some actual research and analysis. "Singled Out" by Bella DePaulo is an excellent start. She debunks the married-people-are-more-productive and married-people-are-more-generous myth and points out the literally thousands of perks, entitlements, and freebies offered to the married, generally at the expense of the singles. She also debunks the fallacious research that supposedly "proves" marriage makes people more happy. It turns out that formerly married people (who have been widowed or divorced), many of whom are miserable and broke as a result of having married, are lumped together with lifelong singles. The lifelong singles are quantitatively just as happied as the married people, and statistically LESS likely to be lonely in old age.
Of course getting married is good for the economy. When you get married, you spend money on venues, clothes, services, food, gifts and a host of other things (the wedding industry is worth billions). then when you get married you're more likely to buy a house, which means possibly building or renovating a house, buying new appliances, furniture, painting, filling it with junk, buying more stuff together with your combined increased income.
as much as I'm for marriage equality because it is a civil rights and human rights issue, even if you argue against it on moral grounds (like a bigot), we're sitting on a friggin untapped stimulus package (no pun intended) if we just legalize marriage equality. If we increase the pool of marry-able people by about 10% (approx size of the gay and lesbian communities, give or take and depending on the figures you look at) we could be adding about $5 billion just to the wedding industry alone.
I needed a good laugh today. Thank you NBC News.
The only remotely sensible comment is this one:
“Whatever the cause, the combination of fewer people of both sexes working and fewer dual-income households doesn’t bode well for the economy.”
Well, duh. The more Double-income homes out there where people split expenses always results in more cash flowing.
If anything, promote more people to take on roomates. You can get the same result without looping in the requirement of sex and risk of divorce into it.
How about the truth though? How about identifying employers who still see married men as less likely to take risks and therefore equated to married being more loyal of an employee? How about identifying those employers who as a result, pay married men more than single men. Or pay married women more than single women.
End of the day though, no wife or kids gave me the freedom to jump at an opportunity that increased my income by almost $20K per year less than a year ago. This alone proves this whole 'report' is nothing but bull manure.
Ya, my employer likes the single people. They can't stand the "I have to go to my kids soccer game" or "my wife's sick I need to leave early" employees. Married people have a ton of responsibilities that directly impact the workplace. Single people can stay late, work harder, have less stress, and less family excuses in the workplace. If i were an employer single is the way to go - married people just bring baggage. I know I'm going to get a ton of flak here from married people, saying they work hard - i'm not saying you don't - I'm just saying I don't have soccer games, school related functions, and runy noses to worry about and chase after.
Well, you know the old saying: "Behind every successful man is a woman who made it necessary."
Trust me, the financial benefits of being single vastly outweigh the "marriage wage premium". Marriage is much more costly in more ways then just financial economics.
Who was the guy that said it was easier to find a woman that hates me and give her half of everything I own than go through a marriage to do it?
me.
I really can't buy that "earning more" is an effect of being married. It's either the other way around, or both marriage likelihood and higher income are effects of something else.
I think there is at least some truth to this. When I was single, if I did a crappy job and got fired I wasn't hurting anyone but myself. Now married with kids, I have too many other people counting on me to risk losing my job.
I asked my neighbor that same question why she didn't get married, she's been with the guy for 10 years and they have four kids together. The answer she gave me was like this if, she got married then she wouldn't be allowed to collect welfare benefits, she would have to report his income. He makes the money, she legally collects the free sh*t lmao. I never ask that question again.
Ohhhh boy, lets get married, and have 10 kids. Lets not be prepared for the future. Lets not plan ahead. Lets just make babies, and make the taxpayers send us $3,000 bucks per kid. At 3k a head, we'll have 30k in 10 years....
How the hell is not being married hurting the country.
So according to this little @!$%# story, I AM HURTING THE COUNTRY? And that I'm stopping it's progress from recovery, because i'm not...married?
I'm not married because of all those Cosmopolitan story's to women about finding the "Perfect man". I"m not married because of all those Calvin Kline models on tv. I"m not married because according to several women...I have a low paying job.
Wow...I didn't know love had a price tag on it. Or that I was wearing the wrong jeans. Or that I can't compare to the sexiest man alive as stated by TV guide.
You know what. I can die a virgin for all I care. I used to be nice, pleasant, patient. Everything a woman could hope for.
But apparently in the 21st century. You have to be a "Bad boy", wear the right clothes, know the right crowd, and have lots of money.
Kiss my grits.
I would like to apologize for ruining the economy. I am 56 years old and have never been married. I have yet to find a man I can envision being divorced from. I would have to know that there would be an amicable divorce before I would believe there ever would be an amicable marriage.