Earlier this year, entertainment attorney Aurielle Brooks married the man of her dreams. When the couple first started dating, she shared it with her colleagues-turned-friends, who happily congratulated her on the burgeoning relationship. But once news got around to her clients, the reception was mixed.
“It was definitely a thing,” Brooks tells ESSENCE. “As women in probably any industry, honestly, but especially in the entertainment sector, you are just immediately perceived differently {after partnering with someone}. After sharing photos of my husband on social media, some of my clients even felt like, ok now I see why you’re so busy, as if my romantic relationship absolved any professional shortcomings.”
That feeling isn’t completely off- base.
Data has shown that workplaces can carry positive biases that sometimes work in married employees’ favor.
For instance, findings from a CareerBuilder survey found 21 percent of workers who have never been married think their companies favor married employees over unmarried ones, while 30 percent believe colleagues who have tied the knot have more flexibility than single employees, a 2015 SheKnows report points out.
This extends beyond social touch points. Employees’ marital status can also affect their pay as well. Studies have suggested that married employees often make more money, are thought of more favorably when workplace leaders make decisions about growth opportunities, and get more perks than their unmarried peers.
But these benefits can mostly apply to married men, not women.
A 2019 study suggest that married men in the U.S. are more likely than single men to be in top earning groups in the nation. As ESSENCE previously pointed out, research has found that men benefit more from the unpaid emotional and domestic labor women have been socially conditioned to provide. 2023 Pew Research data showed that husbands in egalitarian marriages spend about 3.5 hours more per week on leisure activities than wives do. Wives in these marriages spend roughly 2 hours more per week on caregiving than husbands do and about 2.5 hours more on housework.
Brooks pointed out that some clients of her client implied her work ethic will shift following her nuptials due to her perceived domestic responsibilities.
“Oh, you’re probably too busy for me now because you got this thing going on,” she says of some client feedback she’s received. “Just because I have a partner now, that shouldn’t be tantamount to anything dealing with my work life.”
Brooks says she tries to mitigate any unconscious bias by maintaining the same momentum she had pre-marriage.
“I made sure that my work schedule didn’t change,” Brooks shared. “Being a Black woman in this space, you can’t slip up but fortunately I have a team that supports me no matter what, but I understand most women don’t have that. The bias is very real.”
This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.