Women taking their time to pick spouses, but at what cost?

0 Comments | Insight on the News, July 22, 2002 | by Stephen Goode

Two new studies discussed in recent dispatches from Reuters offer food for thought. Most folks, for example, probably think the reason more women in the United States marry late is that they're career-minded and want to put several years in the profession of their choice before uniting with the guy of their choice.

There's probably some truth to that. But there's another angle, too. Economists Eric Gould and Daniele Paserman of the Center for Economic Policy Research in London looked at U.S. Census data from 1970, 1980 and 1990 for 321 urban regions.

And what did they find? "Higher male inequality increases the option value for women to search longer for a husband," according to their paper. That translates to mean that when income varies widely among men, as it does in contemporary America, the ladies are going to take their time choosing a mate.

In other words, they hold out for one of the rich lads rather than accepting a proposal from a poor fellow whose only attributes (according to a list of qualities rated of less importance by the gals on the outlook for a wealthy man) are "a sense of humor, a caring nature [or] physical attractiveness."

Meanwhile, in another study, also from London, a British professor has come up with a formula that helps people calculate exactly how much an hour of their time is worth.

When Ian Walker of Warwick University in the English West Midlands looked into how people value their time, he found that more than 80 percent of respondents would buy more time if they could afford it. It was a fact that intrigued the good professor, who then came up with a way to help people make day-to-day and commonplace decisions such as whether to cook a meal or to get takeout, or whether to take public transport or a taxi.

For a professional working in London and earning $36,570 a year, for example, an hour of time would be worth $9.42. Since the time for cooking dinner would cost $7.84, it would be cheaper to get takeout once you add the cost of the raw materials needed to make it yourself, according to Walker's formula.

His formula can be found at www.barclaycard.co.uk/timeismoney, a Website where visitors can figure out the value of an hour of their time by entering their salary, the region where they work and what kind of work they do.

Oh yes. And how much does the time for brushing his or her teeth come to for the hypothetical London professional with that $36,570 income? A mere 46 cents, which is definitely well below his or her time, but nonetheless a job they're going to have to do on their own.