If you find that your contributions to dinner party conversations are somewhat lacking, it's likely that your hubby's bank balance is a little deficient as well. In other words, the level of education a woman attains will determine the earnings of her future husband, at least that's according to a study just completed at Brigham Young University. In terms of cold, hard cash, a woman who has completed a university degree can expect an increase in her husband's earnings of as much as $20,000, say the study's authors in the Journal of Labor Economics. "Women's education does not have a strong effect on the probability of being married but dramatically increases husband's income," say researchers Lars Lefgren and Frank McIntyre.
The authors found a number of reasons why a woman might end up marrying high-income earning man. Educated women are probably more likely to meet their husbands while attending university, and women who invest more of their energies toward higher education are more likely to seek out husbands with a similar mindset. But once these variables had been taken into consideration, Lefgren and McIntyre found that a woman's school or university education directly related to her husband's level of income, irrespective of how they first met.
"Inasmuch as marriage generates non-pecuniary benefits as well, the marriage market could be an even more important avenue through which education increases women's welfare," conclude Lefgren and McIntyre.
Source: University of Chicago Press Journals
