Abstract Sex differences in educational attainment have narrowed. But, the returns which men and women accrue for their education are still not equal. Highly educated women are less likely to be employed full-time than are men. Women and men continue to be employed in different types of jobs and women earn less money at all levels of education.
Educated women are more likely to postpone or never marry.
We examine the relationship between education and a variety of indicators of emotional and physical distress. We find that education is more strongly correlated with emotional distress for women and with physical distress for men. Paid work, work characteristics, economic resources and the sense of control are more negatively associated with emotional distress for women than for men. Marriage is more negatively associated with all forms of distress for men than for women. Whereas, work, economic resources, and sociodemographic controls explain most or all of the relationship between education and distress for men, education continues to have a direct impact on several indicators of distress among women, even after controlling for family conditions and social-psychological resources.