Since the end of the 1970s, the average income of the top fifth of male income earners has risen by about 4 percent. During the same period, the average earnings of men in the bottom fifth fell by 44 percent. A key reason for this disparity is that poor men today are less likely to be married. In 1979, almost three out of every five men among the poorest 20 percent of income earners were married. Today, however, only about two out of five are married.

This drop in the marriage rates among lowest income men makes such a big difference because the incomes of women has risen. Today, about 65 percent of women with poor husbands work, up only slightly from 61 percent in 1961. The wages of these women have increased by about two-thirds, however. If the poorest males were marrying at the same rate as before, fewer lower income households would have suffered big drops in their average earnings. 

Marriage has only added to the income gap of the highest income men. In 1979, just over half of the women married to high-income men worked. Today, three-fourths of these women work, and their wages have risen by more than 70 percent. This has further enriched the households of the highest income males. 

Some poor men are probably less likely to be married because their income drop has hurt their marriage prospects. What, if anything, should the government do about this?