The Effects of Marital Status on

Income
By Amanda Powe
Sowk 300, Section 01 Spring 2010
Exercise #5
 Variable & Values
Variables Name Values
Independent Variable Total Income 24,999 or less
25,000-29,999
30,000-59,000
60,000 or more
Dependent Variable Marital Status Married
Widowed
Divorced
Separated
Never Married

Control Variable Race Black

White
 Hypotheses and Rationale
Bivariate
When dealing with the two variables one may think that marital status does not
affect the earnings of an individual. Total income of individuals can be looked at as
variable that works directly with marital status. My hypotheses is that marital
status does not have a direct effect on income. This hypotheses was developed
with not previous knowledge of the subject, nor any previous reviewing of the data
contained in the study.

Marital Total
Status Income Click Here
for Rationa
le
 Hypotheses and Rationale
Multivariate
The independent and dependent variables under the control variable hypothesized as not
increasing or decreasing based off of race. After observing the data from the bivariate section
the hypotheses was developed. Race may not have a direct affect on the amount of income of a
individual based on marital status. Race may affect different aspects of the study but in the case
of income I am skeptical about their direct relationship.

Race

Marital Total
Status Click Here
Income for Ratio
nale
 Findings: Bivariate Table

Marital Status by Total Family Income of (R)

Income
Marital Status 24,999 or 30,000 to 40,000 to 60,000 or
less 39,999 59,999 more

Married 192 169 162 272

Widowed 110 17 5 33

Divorced 125 40 28 20

Separated 25 7 1 7

Never Married 133 67 34 52

 Findings: Multivariate Table
Marital Status by Total Family Income of (R)
White Respondents Black Respondents
Income Income
Marital 24,999 or 25,000 to 40,000 to 60,000 Marital 24,999 or 25,000 to 40,000 to 60,000 or
Status less 39,999 59,999 or more Status less 39,999 59,999 more
Married 158 149 147 242 Married 21 11 10 17

Widowed 86 17 4 29 Widowed 19 4

Divorced 108 37 25 14 Divorced 14 2 2 3

Separated 14 3 1 4 Separated 10 4 3

Never 100 49 26 44 Never 24 15 5 3

Married Married
 Bivariate Graph & Discussion
Marital Status by Income
250
200
Percent of Total Income

150
100
50
0
d e d ed ed d
rrie ow or
c
ra
t ri e
a id v a ar
M W Di Se
p
e rM
v
Ne
Marital Status

When individuals marry, the total 70.8 percent of individuals who

income is can be predicted as were married reported an income
being greater than if their marital of 60, 000 or more compared to
status was different. 1.8 percent of those who were
separated.
 Multivariate Graph & Discussion
P e r c e n t o f T o t la l In c o m e

Marital Status by Income with the Controlling

Factor Race
60
40
20
0 black
white

Marital Status

Blacks were able to benefit from a 35.3 percent of whites that were
higher total income by being married compared to 55.4 percent
married over whites. of blacks earned a higher total
income in respect to their marital
status.