Author(s)
Gloria Moroni
Cheti Nicoletti
Kjell Salvanes
Emma Tominey

We revisit the economic effects of marriage, analysing its heterogeneous impact on the intra-household labour division following childbirth. Can marriage promote coordination of work and child activities between parents and a gender egalitarian division of labour? Using a marginal treatment effect framework, we find the average effect of marriage is to increase parental specialization and worsen the mother's child penalty. However, we find differences across couples with varying resistance to marriage. While traditional couples (low-resistance) exhibit increased specialization; in modern couples (high-resistance) fathers have an earnings penalty and take more paternity leave, suggesting more coordination and gender equality.

File Description
First version, November 26, 2025
JEL Codes
J11: Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
J12: Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
J13: Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
J18: Demographic Economics: Public Policy
Keywords
cohabitation
Marriage
specialization
cooperation
child human capital