In the West places, the distribution off cousin incomes within marriage ceremonies may be skewed into the a remarkable means. Husbands do not simply earn more than their women people, but there is also a striking discontinuity inside their cousin efforts into household money within point: many spouses lead just a little below or as much as their husbands, however, couple contribute a great deal more. Which ‘cliff’ might have been interpreted because the evidence that people prevent situations where a spouse carry out earn significantly more than their partner, since this do go against antique gender norms. Inside papers, i fool around with a representation approach to model marriage markets and you will demonstrate you to definitely an effective cliff on cousin earnings shipments may arise instead instance reduction. We offer all of our simulations that have income investigation regarding twenty-seven European countries. Efficiency show that good cliff can also be come out of inequalities inside men’s and you may women’s average incomes, regardless of if they don’t really install special definition so you can a situation in which a spouse produces over her partner.