When it comes to love and money, the relationship status between your heart and your wallet might be more complicated than you think.
Never-married women are the fastest growing cohort in the labor market. Yet, as their ranks have swelled their wage gap has, too.
The group’s median weekly earnings are 92.1% of what men who have never married make, revealing a fascinating dynamic that challenges everything we thought we knew about independence and income.
The question isn’t just about whether to say “I do” or “I don’t” but understanding how these choices ripple through your financial future in ways that might surprise you.
What the Data Actually Shows
Let’s start with what might sound counterintuitive: marriage itself doesn’t automatically boost women’s earning power.
Unlike men, who enjoy what economists call a “marriage premium” where married men make approximately 11 percent more than men who have never been married, the picture for women is refreshingly complex.
Although single women ages 20 to 26 do earn approximately 17 percent more than their married counterparts, that’s not the whole story.
Age and marital status are only two factors that potentially can affect a woman’s wages. Characteristics such as education, experience, job tenure and especially children are also key aspects affecting a woman’s earnings.
Once these factors are accounted for, the effect of marriage on women’s wages becomes statistically insignificant.
Here’s where it gets interesting: when we control for other factors, marriage neither helps nor hurts women’s earning potential. But the when and how of marriage? That’s where the magic happens.
The Early Career Advantage
Young single women have discovered something powerful: delaying marriage significantly increases women’s wages.
Although they concluded that the increase in earnings associated with a woman delaying marriage dissipates over her lifetime, this relationship could indicate that a period of career building early in life is critical to a woman’s wage profile.
Think of your twenties as your professional foundation years. During this time, single women can pour energy into skill-building, networking, and climbing those crucial early career rungs without navigating the complex dance of shared decision-making that comes with partnership.
The Wealth Reality Check
While earning power tells one story, wealth accumulation reveals another fascinating chapter.
The St. Louis Fed’s research finds that single women who never married have a lower net worth of about $0.71 cents per one dollar compared to the median never-married man’s wealth, or a wealth penalty of about 29%.
But here’s a plot twist that might make you reconsider everything: households headed by unmarried women who do not have children under 18 had a median wealth of $87,200 in 2022, similar to households headed by unmarried men.
The takeaway? Children, not marriage itself, create the most significant financial impact on women’s wealth-building journey.
The Child Factor – Where Everything Changes
Children represent the great financial divide in women’s earning stories.
For women, children introduce an entirely new complexity: Not only do children require a great deal of time and effort (traditionally borne by the mother), but women often leave the labor market when having children and while their children are young.
The timing of motherhood creates ripple effects that last decades. Early childbearers see their wages go down by 3.7 to 4.2 percent, while late childbearers suffer a reduction of less than 1 percent.
The data suggests that experience gained before a woman’s first child contributes more to earnings than experience gained afterwards.
The Modern Marriage Evolution
Today’s marriages look dramatically different from those of previous generations. In 29% of marriages today, both spouses earn about the same amount of money.
Just over half (55%) of marriages today have a husband who is the primary or sole breadwinner and 16% have a breadwinner wife.
This shift toward more egalitarian partnerships means that modern married women have more opportunities to maintain their earning power than ever before. In egalitarian marriages, wives earn $60,000 at the median, while husbands earn $62,000.
The Hidden Costs of Singlehood
While single women enjoy certain advantages, independence comes with its own price tag.
Harris finds three-quarters of Americans say that it can be more affordable to be in a relationship, especially when it comes to splitting everyday costs like housing expenses, food prices, or monthly bills.
The math is simple: two incomes can tackle fixed costs more efficiently than one.
But this doesn’t mean marriage is a financial strategy; it means partnership can provide economic advantages when both people are committed to building wealth together.
The Career Architecture Difference
One of the most revealing insights comes from how single and married women structure their careers differently.
Single women often make bolder moves because they have fewer variables to consider.
They can relocate for opportunities, take calculated risks, or invest heavily in skill development without negotiating with a partner.
Married women, particularly those with children, often optimize for flexibility over pure earning potential.
Research has suggested that married women, particularly those with children, are more likely to take jobs in which they are able to maintain flexible, or part-time, schedules in order to better balance the responsibilities of work and family.
This isn’t a weakness; it’s a strategic choice. But it does mean that direct income comparisons don’t capture the full picture of what women value and prioritize.
The Age and Education Equations
Education dramatically shifts the earning landscape for both single and married women. Nearly one-in-five wives (19%) who have completed at least a bachelor’s degree are the sole or primary breadwinner in their marriage.
In comparison, 11% of wives who have not completed a high school diploma are breadwinners.
For single women, education becomes even more critical because they don’t have a partner’s income to cushion financial gaps or provide stability during career transitions.
Age also plays a fascinating role. Among wives ages 25 to 34, 11% are the breadwinner in their marriage, whereas 22% of wives ages 55 to 64 out-earn their husbands.
This suggests that women’s earning power relative to their spouses increases over time, possibly as they gain experience and confidence.
The Investment and Wealth-Building Advantage
Here’s where single women might have a secret weapon: Women who invest are already building impressive investment portfolios.
Those who have taken the opportunity to set up a Stocks and Shares ISA with HL hold more on average in them than men.
Single women often become more intentional about wealth-building because they can’t rely on a partner’s financial contributions.
This focus on investment and financial independence can lead to impressive long-term wealth accumulation.
The Household Economics Reality
The division of financial responsibilities in marriage creates its own dynamics.
Even as financial contributions have become more equal in marriages, the way couples divide their time between paid work and home life remains unbalanced.
Women pick up a heavier load when it comes to household chores and caregiving responsibilities, while men spend more time on work and leisure.
This “second shift” of unpaid labor affects earning potential in ways that pure salary comparisons miss.
When women shoulder more domestic responsibilities, they often have less energy and time for career advancement activities like networking, skill development, or pursuing demanding projects.
The Future Wealth Transfer
Perhaps most intriguingly, the wealth landscape is shifting in ways that will benefit women regardless of marital status.
Women across all wealth brackets are set to inherit 70% of global wealth over the next two generations.
This massive wealth transfer means that women’s financial futures may be less tied to their earning decisions and more influenced by intergenerational wealth patterns that favor longevity and careful financial stewardship.
Regional and Cultural Variations
Where you live significantly impacts the single versus married financial equation. More than half of American woman are single these days.
That’s a record. This shift is reshaping everything from housing markets to consumer spending patterns.
Different regions offer different advantages for single versus married women, from career opportunities to cost of living considerations that can dramatically impact long-term wealth building.
Making the Choice That’s Right for You
The research reveals that there’s no universally “better” financial choice between staying single and getting married. Instead, the key factors that determine financial success are:
- Education level and career investment
- Timing of major life decisions (marriage, children)
- Geographic location and career opportunities
- Intentional financial planning and investment habits
- Support systems (whether through partnership or community)
For Those Contemplating Partnership
Consider how potential partners approach financial decisions, career ambitions, and household responsibilities.
Egalitarian partnerships where both people actively support each other’s careers tend to produce better financial outcomes for women than traditional arrangements.
For Those Embracing Independence
Focus on building robust emergency funds, investment portfolios, and professional networks.
Single women who treat their careers as CEOs of their own lives often outperform their married counterparts in wealth accumulation, especially when they avoid the motherhood penalty.
The Bottom Line
The question isn’t whether married or single women make more money but rather how different life choices create different financial pathways.
Both routes can lead to financial success when approached with intention and strategy.
What matters most is understanding how your choices about partnership, career timing, education, and family planning will interact with your financial goals.
The data suggests that women who make deliberate decisions about their careers, regardless of their relationship status, tend to achieve better financial outcomes.
The real power lies not in choosing the “right” relationship status but in understanding how to optimize your financial strategy within whatever life structure you choose.
Whether you’re building wealth solo or as part of a partnership, the key is making informed decisions that align with your values, goals, and circumstances.
Remember: your financial future isn’t determined by your relationship status but by the choices you make within whatever path feels authentic to you.