Husbands and Wives in Dual-Earner Marriages: Decision-Making,Gender Role Attitudes,Division of Household Labor,and Equity

Abstract

The clearly defined work and family roles of the traditional American family model-husbands as breadwinners and wives as homemakers-have been replaced by a model where both husbands and wives are employed, creating the need to re-negotiate family roles. The current study examined: (1) differences in perceived decision-making, gender-role attitudes, division of household labor and perceived marital equity in dual-earner husbands and wives (n = 233); and (2) the impact of perceived decision-making, gender-role attitudes, and division of household labor on perceived marital equity. Findings indicated that decision-making, low-control household labor, and high-control household labor differed significantly between husbands and wives. Wives spent more time in household labor and were much more likely to be involved in low-control household tasks. Perceptions of marital equity were influenced by decision-making and time spent in low-control household tasks for both husbands and wives.     

Gender,work-family conflicts,and perceived parental success: The moderating role of gender ideology

ABSTRACT

We know little about how perceptions of conflict between work and family shape the subjective views of dual-earner parents. Given time constraints and the prevalence of gendered parenting norms, gender ideologies and work-family conflicts may help explain perceived parental success. Using data from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce, I explore whether gender ideology moderates how conflicts between work and family relate to perceived parental success. Among dual-earner mothers, work-to-family conflict was negatively related to perceived parental success. For dual-earner fathers, work-to-family conflict was positively associated with perceived parental success among more traditional fathers, while the opposite was the case for more egalitarian fathers. Family-to-work conflict was only negatively related to the perceived parental success of more traditional fathers. These findings suggest that gender ideologies are more central in explaining how work-family conflicts relate to fathers’ perceived parental success compared to that of mothers.     

Integrative and Masking Emotion Work: Marital Outcomes Among Dual-Earner Couples

This study redresses a gap in the literature concerning the outcomes of emotion work by exploring how both integrative and masking emotion work relate to marital quality and marital conflict. Using data from a random sample of dual-earner couples in a northeastern city in an upper Midwestern state (n = 99 couples), this study explores the emotion-work performance of each partner. The findings show that men’s integrative emotion work is only significantly associated with men’s marital quality, whereas men’s masking emotion work significantly predicts their partner’s marital quality, men’s marital quality, and men’s marital conflict. Women’s integrative emotion work is significantly associated with women’s marital quality and their partner’s marital conflict, whereas women’s masking emotion work predicts women’s marital quality and marital conflict. Altogether, the findings suggest that considering both masking and integrative emotion work helps gain a fuller understanding of how emotion work shapes marital outcomes.     

Practices of Dual Earner Couples Successfully Balancing Work and Family

Researchers have long explored conflict and strain in dual-career couples. Recently, the focus has begun to shift toward documenting the adaptive strategies of dual-earner couples in balancing family and work. The current study investigates workplace practices perceived as supportive in balancing work and family. Respondents were middle-class, dual-earner couples (N=47) who described themselves as successful in balancing family and work. These supportive practices include: flexible work scheduling, non-traditional work hours, professional/job autonomy, working from home, supportive supervisors, supportive colleagues and supervisees, and the ability to set firm boundaries around work. Additionally, many participants describe their efforts to actively secure employment at workplaces that offered family–friendly alternatives, and describe the tradeoffs they are willing to make.     

Differences in substance use,sexual behavior,and demographic factors by levels of ‘outness’ to friends and family about being a male-for-male escort

Objectives: Male sex work (i.e., escorting) is a stigmatized profession, and men in the sex industry may hide their involvement to avoid negative social consequences. There is limited research comparing men who are out about being an escort to their friends and/or family to those who are out to neither friends nor family. Methods: Data were taken from a 2013 online study of male escorts who were categorized into 3 groups based on outness patterns — friends only (48.9%, n = 193), friends and family (26.6%, n = 105), or neither friends nor family (23.5%, n = 93) — and they were compared on demographic and behavioral variables. Results: We hypothesized that men out to neither friends nor family would perform poorer across indicators of health and well-being due to the lack of social support that can come from friends and family. However, with the exception of reporting lower satisfaction and pay from their last male client, this hypothesis was unsupported. Outness patterns were largely unassociated with social and sexual behaviors with the last male client, and the majority eschewed condomless anal sex with their last male client, suggesting escorts — regardless of how out they are to friends and family — could navigate safer-sex behaviors with their clients. Outness was associated with substance use (<12 months) and substance use with their last male client — men out to friends and family were, for the most part, the most likely to have used substances. Men out to friends and family were significantly more likely than others to have been escorting for more than 5 years and to be escorting full-time. Conclusions: Interventions for escorts that address substance use and sexual risk behaviors and incorporate supportive friend and family social networks may be an important area for future research.     

“Behind Every Great Man…”: The Male Marriage Wage Premium Examined Qualitatively

Studies across diverse national contexts reliably show that married men earn more than unmarried men, but the mechanisms responsible for this are still disputed. This article explores the male marriage wage premium from a new perspective, using longitudinal qualitative data from Russia (N = 94). Qualitative research is particularly suited to identifying underlying processes and, by analyzing men's accounts of the influence of their marital trajectories on their work, the authors were able to reexamine existing hypotheses and develop new ones. They propose 4 mechanisms that they hypothesize can influence men's work motivation and performance: premarital planning, 2 distinct “breadwinner” effects using expectancy and self determination theory, and monitoring by wives. They integrate these mechanisms within gender theory, arguing that the treatment aspect of the male marriage wage premium is an outcome of the “coproduction” of masculinity within marriage. Their recontextualization of existing theory also enables them to reveal weaknesses in the specialization hypothesis.     

Pathways Among Marital Distress,Parental Symptomatology,and Child Adjustment

A community sample of 295 mothers, fathers, and children (M age = 11.14 years, SD = 2.32 years) rated marital distress, maternal and paternal psychological symptoms, and child adjustment. The predicted direct relations between these family and child variables were demonstrated for both fathers and mothers. Tests of pathways among these variables were conducted for separate but complementary mediation models. Maternal and paternal symptoms mediated the association between marital distress and child adjustment. Marital distress mediated the link between fathers’ symptoms and child adjustment, but the direct pathway between mothers’ symptoms and child adjustment remained. Pubertal status was modestly related to higher levels of family stressors. Joint implications of marital distress and parental symptoms for child adjustment are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Social Acculturation and Social Capital in Determining Marital and Parental Role Expectations Among People of Mexican Descent

Men and women experience acculturation differently, creating acculturative gaps that may affect traditional family role expectations. In the current study, additive moderation between social acculturation, bonding social capital, and gender in relationship to marital and parental role expectations was explored among Mexican Americans (N = 314). The results indicate that when bonding social capital is at low to moderate levels, women are more committed to marital and parental roles and report more marital reward value as social acculturation increases. However, as bonding social capital and social acculturation increase, women report less marital reward value and marital and parental commitment. The size and quality of personal networks among Mexican American men and women appear to relate to social acculturation’s conditional relationship to family role expectations.     

Premarital Cohabitation and Marital Dissolution: An Examination of Recent Marriages

An ongoing question remains for family researchers: Why does a positive association between cohabitation and marital dissolution exist when one of the primary reasons to cohabit is to test relationship compatibility? Drawing on recently collected data from the 2006–2008 National Survey of Family Growth, the authors examined whether premarital cohabitation experiences were associated with marital instability among a recent contemporary (married since 1996) marriage cohort of men (N = 1,483) and women (N = 2,003). They found that a dichotomous indicator of premarital cohabitation was in fact not associated with marital instability among women and men. Furthermore, among cohabitors, marital commitment prior to cohabitation (engagement or definite plans for marriage) was tied to lower hazards of marital instability among women, but not men. This research contributes to our understanding of cohabitation, marital instability, and broader family change.     

‘Workaholics’ and ‘whingeing women’: Theorising intimacy and emotion work — the last frontier of gender inequality?

In a variety of discourses and empirical studies it has been argued that compared with women, men show more reluctance to express intimate emotion in heterosexual couple relationships. Our paper attempts to theorise this gender asymmetry in intimate emotional behaviour as a sort of ‘emotional power’, within the wider context of continuing gender inequalities of resources and power in society. To the extent that men's role as breadwinner becomes their central life interest (they become ‘workaholics’), women are left with emotional responsibility for the private sphere, including the performance of the ‘emotion work’ necessary to maintain the couple relationship itself. Increasingly women's dissatisfaction in relationships (which men dismiss as unjustified ‘whingeing’) stems mainly from this unequal division. Yet many women still collude with male power by living the family ‘myth’ and ‘playing the couple game’; they perform emotion work on themselves to convince themselves that they are ‘ever so happy really’, thereby helping to reproduce their own false consciousness. This suggests that gender asymmetry in relation to intimacy and emotion work may be the last and most obstinate manifestation and frontier of gender inequality.     

Bridging the work-family policy and productivity gap: A literature review

This paper uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the relationship between work-family conflict and six work outcomes: performance, turnover, absenteeism, organizational commitment, job involvement, and burnout. Also reviewed are studies on the effects of employer (work-family) policies aimed at reducing such conflict. Policies to aid employees in managing work and family roles can be expensive, and studies show that they are often marginally effective. The review shows that relationships between work-family policies and organizational effectiveness is mixed and their connection to work-family conflict often under-examined. Work-family conflict is a critical link that may shed light on policy impacts. Suggestions on how future studies can build bridges between practitioners and academics and more clearly examine organizational effectiveness links are provided.     

Work-Family Conflict Among Dual-Earners: Are Partner,Family, and Friends Resources or Liabilities?

Using dyadic data from a random sample of dual-earner couples from an upper Midwestern city in the US (N?=?99), this study examined how each partner’s strain and support from family, partner, and friends relate to work-family conflict. The findings showed several significant relationships. Among men, friend support was associated with lower work-to-family conflict and higher family-to-work conflict, whereas partner support was related to lower family-to-work conflict. Partner strain was associated with work-to-family conflict among women and family-to-work conflict among men. Men’s friend support was related to less work-to-family conflict among women, and women’s family support was associated with less family-to-work conflict among men. Men’s friend strain was associated with higher family-to-work conflict among women. The implications of these findings were discussed, with an eye towards identifying theoretical and practical implications of this study.     

Family,Work, Work‐Family Spillover,and Problem Drinking During Midlife

Using ecological theory as a theoretical framework, this study systematically examined the associations between multiple dimensions of family relationship quality, work characteristics, work‐family spillover, and problem drinking among a national sample of employed, midlife adults (n= 1,547 ). Multivariate analyses confirmed that work and family microsystem factors were associated with problem drinking above and beyond individual characteristics. Consistent with previous research, results indicated that a higher level of marital disagreement and more work‐related pressure were associated with higher odds of problem drinking. Results also indicated that a higher level of positive spillover from family to work was associated with lower odds of problem drinking, whereas a higher level of positive spillover from work to family was associated with higher odds of problem drinking. Psychological well‐being did not account for the association between work and family factors and problem drinking. Associations were similar for men and women.     

Religious Homogamy and Marital Quality: Historical and Generational Patterns, 1980 – 1997

Despite significant social changes in the past 50 years, research continues to find a strong and enduring link between religious homogamy and marital quality. Yet, research has not explicitly examined whether this link has changed over time or over generations. To address historical and generational trends, I use national, longitudinal data collected between 1980 and 1997 that represents 3,211 respondents in the parental and offspring generations and 2 measures each of marital quality and religious homogamy. The findings show that the relationship between religious homogamy and marital quality weakened significantly between 1980 and 1997 from intragenerational change and generational replacement. The homogamy–marital quality link was weaker in both generations partly because of the increasing relative influence of gender, work, and family issues. Additionally, a decline in perceptions of religious authority has altered the religion–marital quality connection, though mostly among the younger generation. Even so, religiously homogamous couples still report higher marital quality.     

Social Integration,Work‐Family Conflict and Facilitation,and Job and Marital Quality

This paper examines relationships between 2 dimensions of social integration (community participation and affective community resources) and job and marital quality. Data from the 1995 National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (n= 1,816) indicate that the level of community participation is unrelated or negatively related to job and marital quality, whereas affective community resources show positive associations with job and marital quality. Relationships between community participation and affective community resources and job stress are partially mediated by work‐to‐family conflict and facilitation. Family‐to‐work conflict and facilitation partially mediate relationships between affective community resources and marital satisfaction and risk. The study takes a beginning step in establishing relationships and exploring processes that make up the work‐community‐family interface.     

A Typology of Dual Earner Marriages Based on Work and Family Arrangements

Qualitative research has investigated distinct couple types that divide work and family responsibilities based on employment circumstances and relationship characteristics, but such research is not conducive to identifying frequencies of couple types or statistically comparing work-family circumstances across couple types. The current study incorporated both employment and family variables in identifying four distinct dual-earner couple types among respondents from the National Survey of the Changing Workforce. Couple types were compared regarding demographic information, and memberships in couple types were predicted based on this information. Some significant differences emerged that may begin to explain the circumstances and motivations behind selecting certain work-family arrangements, though the more peer-like couples were less distinct and in some ways less economically advantaged than expected.

Complex Families and Late‐Life Outcomes Among Elderly Persons: Disability,Institutionalization, and Longevity

The authors examined the effects of marital status and family structure on disability, institutionalization, and longevity for a nationally representative sample of elderly persons using Gompertz duration models applied to longitudinal data from 3 cohorts of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 11,481). They found that parents with only stepchildren have worse outcomes than parents with only biological children. Elderly mothers with only stepchildren become disabled and institutionalized sooner, and elderly men with only stepchildren have shorter longevity relative to their counterparts with only biological children. The effect of membership in a blended family differs by gender. Relative to those with only biological children, women in blended families have greater longevity and become disabled later, whereas men in blended families have reduced longevity. The findings indicate that changing marital patterns and increased complexity in family life have adverse effects on late‐life health outcomes.     

Long-Term Prediction of Relationship Satisfaction and Stability by Stress,Coping, Communication,and Well-Being

In this 10-year longitudinal study, long-term relationship satisfaction and stability were predicted from communication behavior, stress level, physical and psychological well-being, and individual and dyadic coping skills. The predictors were assessed at the beginning of the study. Significant predictors of relationship satisfaction (n = 103 couples) for both men and women were relationship satisfaction in the beginning, and for men additionally their dyadic coping competencies. Significant predictors of relationship stability (N = 162 couples) were relationship length, relationship satisfaction of both men and women, as well as women’s positive communication. The percentage of correct classifications (stable or unstable relationship) over a period of 10 years was 80.3%. Implications for research and prevention as well as the importance of coping skills for relationship outcome are discussed.     

Effects of Marriage and Children on Financial Risk Tolerance: A Synthesis of Family Development and Prospect Theory

Family development and prospect theory were used as a framework to predict variability in individuals' subjective financial risk tolerance within distinct family structures. Gender, age, and income were expected to interact with the main effects of family structure (marital status and children). Theory-generated hypotheses were examined in Study 1 (data from university housing respondents, n = 76) and Study 2 (the 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances, n = 4,305). One family structure main effect (child presence) was significant for investment risk tolerance in both studies. Family structure interactions (marital status × age and child × income) were significant for employment risk (Study 1), and child × age was significant for investment risk in Study 2.     

Mothers' Partnerships,Men in the Home,and Adolescents' Secondary Exposure to Violence

Family instability means that many U.S. youth spend time without biological fathers and with other men. This study extends the literature on the developmental implications of living with fathers and father figures by investigating the association between the presence of mothers' male romantic partners in the home and secondary exposure to violence with a focus on variability according to the identities of the men and the communities of the family. Fixed effects models of multilevel data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 2,201) revealed that living with mothers' partners did not have a general protective or risky association with youths' secondary exposure to violence. This exposure, however, was lower when such men were youths' biological fathers (vs. social fathers) and when they were married to (vs. cohabiting with) youths' mothers. The link between men's marital status and exposure to violence appeared stronger in higher crime neighborhoods.