And You Thought You Married For Love!

When you think of applying economics to romance, you may think of people who marry for money, or the cost of a dozen roses. This, however, is not the economics I discuss in this article. In this case, I look at marriage as one would a business partnership.

The term in economics known as comparative advantage is what encourages the trade of services or goods between as little as two people, or as many as several countries. When a particular person can produce a good or service cheaper than the other, it is rational for the two individuals to trade. As an example, take the two household chores of lawn mowing and ironing. Let's say that it takes Tom 10 minutes to mow the lawn and it takes Mary 40 minutes. As for ironing, it takes Tom 20 minutes and it takes Mary 30 minutes. Because Tom can finish both jobs in less time than Mary can he has absolute advantage over Mary. But this does not mean that Tom should perform both jobs!

When you compare the individual's "cost" (in terms of time spent doing the chore), it costs Mary less time to mow the lawn than it does Tom, and Tom's cost of ironing is lower than Mary. (You may have heard this described before as opportunity cost.) In other words, if you think in terms of "time is money", it is cheaper for Mary to mow the lawn and for Tom to iron. Tom and Mary make a "trade" in terms of household chores. When the benefits from trade make both trading partners better off than it is considered mutually advantageous .

In another example, Sally and Joe are married. Sally chooses, because it is cheaper to do so, to specialize in cooking and raising children. Joe again, because it is cheaper for him to do so, specializes in painting houses, which he chooses as a career, and brings home a paycheck. If Sally had to work full-time, outside the home, she would have far less time to spend on raising children and cooking - that is, her specialties. If Joe had to spend all day raising the kids and cooking meals, he would have far less time to spend on what he does best, painting houses and bringing home a paycheck. For these two it is rational to specialize and share in the household chores. And you thought you married for love!

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