Enforcing Family Values? The Effects of Marital Status on Clergy Earnings

Sociology of Religion, Winter, 1999 by Patricia M.Y. Chang, Paul Perl

Research on secular populations suggests that the positive effect of marriage on earnings is not always the same for women, indicating the need to pay attention to the different contexts within which women live. Studies of working women show there is little difference between the earnings of married women and those who have never been married (Dolton and Makepeace 1987; Korenman and Neumark 1992). While there is some evidence that women earn slightly less when they have children, this holds true whether they are single or married (Fuchs 1989; Korenman and Neumark 1992; Elliott and Parcel 1996). Nesbitt (1995) has looked at effects of marital status on the upward mobility of Episcopal priests from lower to higher-ranking job positions. She finds significant gender differences in the effects of marriage on the rate of promotion for lower-level rectors; marriage has a positive effect for men, but no effect for women (Nesbitt 1995). She attributes the higher mobility of married men to normative preferences for m arried clergy being particularly strong regarding men and to the greater likelihood that men have spouses who will provide unpaid support for their careers.

Following Becker's (1985) argument on the household division of labor, one might expect marriage for women to have the opposite effect that it has for men. With regard to the Protestant clergy, if married women are busy with both family and work responsibilities, they will be likely to earn less than never-married women because the latter are able to devote more time and energy to their careers. We do not expect married women clergy to benefit from having a "pastor's husband," because men are traditionally expected to work outside the home with little time or interest in serving as unpaid church volunteers. Finally, married women tend to be viewed by the laity as having divided loyalties between their families and their congregation. Female clergy are not only expected to be fully committed professionals, they are also expected to value their roles as wives and mothers in the traditional value system supported within many church institutions (Zikmund et al. 1998).

This review of the literature suggests the following hypotheses with regard to the relationship between marriage and earnings for male and female clergy.

H1: Married male clergy earn more than never-married male clergy.

H2: Married male clergy whose wives work full time earn less than married male clergy whose wives do not work full time.

H3: Married female clergy earn less than never-married female clergy.

The Effects of Divorce on Earnings

We have reasoned that marriage is likely to increase a male pastor's earnings both because of religious norms about the value of marriage and the extra work a (non-employed) wife can provide for the congregation. Given this expectation, it follows that divorced male clergy are likely to suffer a double stigma. They are unmarried and thus cannot offer the services of an unpaid spouse. In addition, they have demonstrated what is often perceived as a failure to remain in a committed relationship, a fact that can be interpreted negatively. In addition to inviting these personal judgements, divorce is theologically frowned upon in some faiths. Many Protestant denominations have traditionally considered marriage to be a permanent union that cannot be undone by a secular court of law. While elites in some mainline denominations have softened official positions on divorce -- in 1973 the Episcopal Church changed its canons to allow divorced persons to be ordained (Niebuhr 1997) -- negative congregational attitudes ma y remain strong. And in more theologically conservative denominations, hostility may be even stronger.