Career Sacrifice in Couple Formation: Social Norms or Labor Market Realities?

Ugo Antonio Troiano ()
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Ugo Antonio Troiano: Department of Economics, University of California Riverside

No 202517, Working Papers from University of California at Riverside, Department of Economics

Abstract: About one-fourth of U.S. couples rely on a sole earner, typically male. Social norms may help sustain this pattern by stigmatizing men who stay at home. I develop a theoretical model showing that such stigma can generate gender gaps in employment and wages, even without other gender differences. I test the channel using a novel online dating experiment in which 500 participants evaluated profiles randomly assigned signals of willingness to prioritize family. Dating intentions toward stay-at-home men decline significantly. The decline is stronger among participants without tertiary education, consistent with the model’s predictions, suggesting a limited but targeted stigma.

Keywords: gender; employment; online dating; stigma. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 J12 J16 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12
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