Economics of Marriage

9 Pages 2337 Words

e distribution” at the time of divorce of that $100 million when during most of the marriage the wife has been a full-time homemaker, mother, and corporate wife? In other words, how should we think about valuing women’s unpaid, invisible work?”
While many agree that the invisible work of women has value; that being a full-time homemaker; the woman’s unpaid work could be even harder than the work she would have done in the market place. Also, her investment in human capital will not pay off when she begins non-market work. Therefore, in a society where people retain very high gains from investments, the same rules must apply to wives as apply to husbands. In the case of divorce, Myra Strober ponders how to evenly divide the assets obtained when the couple got married. She has come to the conclusion that when there is a divorce, it should be treated as a business partnership. In a business, they have to divide their assets, unless there was a specific contract agreement, and each partner gets an equal amount. When the assets are divided, no one bothers to ask whether the contributions of one partner with the expertise in production are comparable to the other partner’s expertise in sales. In the business world, it is an automatic conclusion that the other’s contribution was necessary to have a somewhat successful partnership. Ms. Strober believes this holds true for marriage. The wife should have half the assets or estate, and a declining portion of her husband’s future earnings. These aspects should not be thought of as a gift or be seen as related to her economic need, but seen as her earned right.
It may also be the case that a woman may feel it is to her economic advantage to marry. Men have more time to invest in human capital and earn higher income, thereby putting women in a lower economic bracket and influencing her decision on whether it is to her advantage to marry. Married men tend to work more and earn...