Trends in Earnings Inequality and Earnings Instability among U.S. Couples: How Important Is Assortative Matching?

Arbeitspapier

We examine changes in inequality and instability of the combined earnings of married couples over the 1980-2009 period using two U.S. panel data sets: Social Security earnings data matched to Survey of Income and Program Participation panels (SIPP-SSA) and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Relative to male earnings inequality, the inequality of couples' earnings is both lower in levels and rises by a smaller amount. We also find that couples' earnings instability is lower in levels compared to male earnings instability and actually declines in the SIPP-SSA data. While wives' earnings played an important role in dampening the rise in inequality and year-to-year variation in resources at the family level, we find that marital sorting and coordination of labor supply decisions at the family level played a minor role. Comparing actual couples to randomly paired simulated couples, we find very similar trends in earnings inequality and instability.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 8729

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft
• Subject: inequality ; instability ; matching

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Hryshko, Dmytro ; Juhn, Chinhui ; McCue, Kristin
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2014

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/107509
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET