Internal migration and the earnings of married couples in the United States

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Abstract
Economic models of migration recognize that potential changes in income are an important factor in the decision to change geographic location within a country's borders. For married couples, gains need not occur for both spouses, and ‘tied movers’ may on average see their relative earnings fall as a result of internal migration. Previous research suggesting that wives appear on average to be tied movers primarily dates back to the 1970s. Examining data from the 1990s, I find a result similar to this earlier research, with wives losing on average about 20% of their pre-migration earnings. Much of this decline is associated with a decline in work hours for wives. The effect seems to be short-lived, not clearly persisting into the second year following migration.

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