Fecundity and husband-wife age and education gaps at first marriage

One explanation given for the gender wage gap is the division of labor in the home. According to this argument husbands (or the higher wage earner) specialize in market activities while wives (the lower market wage earner) specialize in home activities. As a result, husbands work a greater proportion of their lives than wives, invest more in human capital, and have higher wages. Consistent with this division of labor hypothesis is the relatively larger wage gap found between married men and married women (especially those with children) compared to the almost nonexistent wage gap found for singles (especially never-been-married men and women) observed in most countries. Also consistent with this division of labor hypothesis is the declining wage gap coming about as fertility rates declines and divorce rates have risen. However, not understood, is why such division of labor occurs in the first place. The standard reason given for the division of labor is comparative advantage: At the outset of marriage husbands have higher wages than wives. While discrimination is one explanation for husbands' wages to be higher than wives' wages at the outset of the marriage, another explanation is assertive mating. On average husbands are still almost ½ year more educated and about two-and-a-half years older than their wives. Both this age advantage and this education advantage result in higher husband than wife wages, even in the absence of discrimination. Comprehending the reasons for husband-wife age and educational differences are important for one to understand the division of labor in the home and possibly the gender wage gap, as well.My dissertation hypothesizes that the demand for children is one important reason for the husband-wife age and education gaps. This paper develops a two-sided matching model of marriage (originally introduced by Eugenio Giolito (2003)). Resulting theorems are: (1) the husband-wife age gap at first marriage is positively related to the couple's demand for children, (2) any factor positively (or negatively) related to the demand for children will positively (or negatively) influence the age gap at first marriage, (3) the husband-wife education gap is positively related to the couple's demand for children.