When women get married, their work income drops by 20 percent on average. This confirms a new study. The researchers cite false incentives in the tax system and old role models as reasons.
With marriage, women reduce their work income by 20 percent. This is shown by a study by authors from the Munich IFO Institute and the University of Oslo. The scientists have evaluated pension insurance data.
As the main reason, the researchers state that women work less or give up fully giving up work. “Our studies show that in a marriage the differences in income between men and women and that regardless of the birth of children,” says IFO researcher Elena Herold. In contrast, there is no reduction in income after the marriage in men.
False incentives and Gender roles
According to the study, there is a reason for the reduction in the tax system. “A quarter of the reduction in income among wives can be attributed to spouse splitting,” says Herold.
In addition, gender roles are an important reason for the decline in income. For example, women who grew up in East Germany with more modern roles would have a lower decline in income in marriage as women with traditional gender roles in West Germany.
The study also shows that the reform of the 2008 divorce law has no influence on income. So there was a lower maintenance claim, which should provide more work incentives, without a measurable effect on the income of married women.
