Finally, some explanations emphasize racial differences in the ratio of men’s to women’s wages, as opposed to men’s earnings alone. A specialization model of marriage suggests that the gains to marriage are greatest when men’s wages are high relative to women’s, so that men can specialize by working in the labor market while women work in the home.32 The ratio of men’s to women’s wages is much smaller among blacks than whites. Thus the specialization model suggests that marriage rates should be lower for blacks. Although family scholars are quick to point out that black marriages have historically been less characterized by specialization, considerable evidence suggests that the expectation that men will provide for their families economically is strong across groups.33 Yet the ratio of men’s to women’s wages can’t explain lower marriage rates among blacks. Declines in black women’s 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
