RESEARCH_FILE
Marianne Bertrand
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Known for:Economic research on gender identity and relative income within households, with Emir Kamenica and Jessica Pan
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“I’m not allowed to fail”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“Struggling doesn't betray them. Disappearing under the weight does.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Write down, privately, one thing you're actually struggling with right now—not to fix it, just to name it. Notice that naming it doesn't make you fail.
Key findings
- 2015
Found a sharp discontinuity in US household income data exactly at the point where a wife's earnings would exceed her husband's, plus associations with lower marriage satisfaction and higher divorce likelihood in couples that cross that line — evidence for a persistent gender-identity norm around who is 'supposed' to earn more. Gender Identity and Relative Income within Households ↗