Relative Income and Mental Health in Couples

Demid Getik

The Economic Journal, 2024, vol. 134, issue 664, 3291-3305

Abstract: The share of couples where the wife outearns the husband is increasing globally. In this paper, I examine how this dynamic affects mental health. Using data on the 2001 marital cohort in Sweden, I show that while mental health is positively associated with own and spousal income, it is negatively linked to the wife’s relative income. In the most conservative specification, the wife starting to earn more increases the likelihood of a mental health diagnosis by 8%–11%. This represents a significant indirect cost of changes in family dynamics.

Date: 2024
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