The Tied Movers’ Gender Earnings Gap

Abstract

Job-related relocations are common. Standard economic models typically treat workers as isolated individuals, while most workers live and move as part of a couple. Using a dynamic event study with synthetic comparison groups and German data, we show that women within couples frequently become “tied movers”: following relocation, male partners experience substantial earnings gains (as both hourly wages and hours worked increase) while women’s earnings remain flat. This earnings stagnation is attributable to being tied since single women’s earnings gains mirror those of men. Fertility is not a key factor. These findings underscore how tied migration perpetuates gender earnings gaps.