Women’s Work, Social Norms, and the Marriage Market

We conduct an experiment to elicit preferences for partners on an online marriage market platform in India. We find that working women are 12.8% less likely to receive interest from male suitors. Additionally, women employed in “masculine” occupations are 3.3% less likely to elicit interest from suitors relative to those in “feminine” occupations. Men hailing from higher castes and northern India, where communities have more conservative gender-related preferences, are less likely to show interest in working women. Our results highlight the role of patriarchal gender attitudes in marital preferences and suggest that expectations regarding returns in the marriage market may influence women’s labor market choices.