marriage rates between 1968 and 1996 don’t track changes over time in women’s wages relative to men’s. Marriage rates fell, while the female-to-male wage ratio remained similar across time.34 Moreover, other analyses show that both women’s and men’s earnings are positively associated with marriage and that the positive association between women’s earnings and marriage has been increasing over time, suggesting that the argument that gender specialization supports marriage may be outdated.35
