Spouse Overeducation and Family Migration: Evidence from the US

Scholars have noted that marriage frequently results in a sub-optimal job search. This literature suggests that the overeducation of wives is a result of household migration (tied-mover) or the result of an inability to migrate (tied-stayer). Others have found that overeducation may also be a cause of migration. This study examines overeducation as both a cause and effect of migration. Some evidence shows that families with an overeducated husband are found to be more likely to migrate. In turn, this migration leads to increased levels of overeducation among wives and decreased levels of overeducation among husbands. Household migration is also found to lower the full-time employment rates of wives by more than their male counterparts.     

Ambivalences of the emotional logics of migration and family reunification: emotions,experiences and aspirations of Bangladeshi husbands and wives in Italy

This article analyses the relational and emotional logics of migration, separation and reunification of Bangladeshi families in Italy. Migrant husbands are separated from their wives, with whom they have had little family life due to their migration, and seek family reunification. Wives’ migration due to family reunification, however, means separating them from their familiar environments and social networks. For this reason, some wives press for onward migration to the UK, where they hope that a larger Bangladeshi community and more social and cultural opportunities may provide a more fulfilling life compared to what they experienced in Italy. However, this means uprooting their husbands once again. The article observes the emotionally divergent dimensions among men and women as an element that can transform and redefine biographical projects and the migration trajectories in Europe of Bangladeshi families in Italy.     

Family migration and the economic status of women in Malaysia

"The impact of family migration on women's economic position in a developing country setting is an area that has received relatively little research attention. Incorporating a lifetime perspective, this study makes use of the retrospective migration histories of husbands and wives from the second round of the Malaysian Family Life Survey to estimate how joint migration with the husband affects women's socioeconomic achievement. The findings show that family migration depresses the chances of working, but it does not significantly reduce socioeconomic attainment of those who do work. However, when a woman migrates with her husband she does forgo the substantial advantage she could have derived had she moved alone."     

Migration and women's status: the Jordan case

This study examines whether women's improved status is dependent upon fulfillment of husbands' roles after their departure and the degree of success in economic participation. The sample includes 518 households with out-migrant husbands (HOMH) and 532 households with resident spouses (HRS). HRS were located in the same cluster as HOMH. The samples are not nationally representative. HOMH are distinctive in their having higher educational levels. A larger percentage of migrant wives perform household tasks by themselves. Wives of migrant husbands, who worked in the labor force, have a greater burden of work after departure. 52% of migrant wives decreased the number of social visits to family and friends. Migrant households have fewer relatives and parents living in the household. 40% report improvement in spousal relations and 41% report no change. 19-21% report that the wife's relations with relatives improved. Findings contradict conclusions by Kamiar and Isamil. The proportion of children attending school was higher among HOMH. 13% of married women in HOMH and 7% of married women in HRS participate in the labor force. After controlling for educational levels, findings indicate that labor force activity is still greater among migrant wives. Almost 50% join the labor force after their husband's departure. None work in agriculture. Labor force participation rates remain high during the first 15 years of migration. Participation declines after 15 years and as husbands reach age 40. Wives view their husbands' migration as beneficial.     

Family Stress During the Czech Transformation

Using three waves of data (1994–1996) from Czech households, we examined the mediating role of family interactions on the relation between 1994 family economic pressure and increased marital instability 1994–1996. The models demonstrate that economic pressure made both husbands and wives irritable, and their tension exacerbated problem behaviors (e.g., drinking and fighting) and depression. Husbands' problem behaviors generated hostility toward their wives, which increased wives' reports of greater marital instability. Wives' irritability increased their behavior problems, as well, but behavior problems were unrelated to wives' hostility or husbands' marital instability. Instead, wives' irritability directly increased their hostility toward their husbands, which in turn, increased husbands' reports of greater marital instability.     

Perceptions of Marriage Related to Engagement in Conjoint Therapy

The pre-treatment marital perceptions of 36 continuing couples were compared with those of 13 couples who terminated conjoint family therapy prior to the third session. Few statistically reliable differences between the groups were found in this pilot study, but the over-all pattern of results was consistent with clinical theory and empirical findings in related areas. Compared to terminators, continuing husbands had a more positive view of family life and perceived themselves as more closely allied with their wives. Continuing wives were more dissatisfied with matters in the family than either their husbands or terminating wives, but they also had more power vis a vis their husbands than did terminating wives. The results were interpreted in relation to a negotiation model of conjoint therapy.     

Making something of the sacrifice: gender,migration and Mexican children's educational aspirations

Transnational families often use international migration as a strategy not only for survival, but also for social mobility. Migrant parents hope their sacrifices via migration will translate into educational benefits for non‐migrant children. In this article, we use mixed methods to explore the success of parents' efforts by considering the relationship between gender, family migration patterns and the educational aspirations of children in the Mixteca region of Mexico. Analysis of surveys collected from 1273 students show that mothers' migrations affect children's educational goals in different ways depending on whether they migrate alone or with their husbands. Fathers' lone migrations have no significant impact on children's educational aspirations. Interviews with 51 children of migrants suggest that children of unmarried migrant mothers are motivated academically because they invest in their mothers' migrations as a sacrifice, whereas the emotional consequences of parental absences lower the educational aspirations of children with both parents in the USA.     

Love attitude and marital adjustment in the family life cycle

The present study examines husband and wife perceptions of attitude toward love and marital satisfaction through seven family life cycle stages. A significant relationship was determined between husbands’ and wives’ attitude toward love and marital satisfaction for couples in the early years of marriage with no children, and for couples with children in the preschool years. Marital satisfaction and attitude toward love seem to function more independently of one another in the other family life stages. Overall, husbands vary slightly more than wives on marital satisfaction and attitude toward love, but the pattern for both is similar in that each relationship is curvilinear.     

What’s Wrong With These People? Clinicians’ Views of Clinical Couples

Marriage and family therapy (MFT) faculty and graduate students rated the "typical" or predictable behaviors of husbands or wives coming for therapy using the Georgia Marriage Q-sort. Scores were compared with previously published scores for both "ideal" couples (i.e., showing positive behaviors, attitudes, and problem-solving skills) and a sample of 136 nonclinical, community couples. A review of correlations between MFT raters' scores for clients and the scores for "ideal" or actual community husbands or wives indicated that clinicians have negative views of both clinical husbands and wives. Such negative views of clinical husbands and wives are particularly marked in scores by MFT faculty. MFT students had a similarly negative view of clinical husbands, but such views were not evident for clinical wives. Recommendations for MFT training and implications for future research are discussed.     

The Role of Community Assessments,Place, and the Great Recession in the Migration Intentions of Rural Americans

Many rural areas of the United States are experiencing population decline due to out‐migration. However, others—especially those places rich in natural amenities and recreational opportunities—are attracting new residents and losing less of their native population. In this article we investigate the predictors of rural Americans' migration intentions by examining how individual‐level community assessments, including community attachment and perceptions of community‐level problems, shape rural Americans' migration decision making while controlling for individual and place effects. Drawing on survey data from 17,000 residents in 11 different rural areas around the United States, we find that community attachment is a key predictor of rural migration, even during periods of economic recession, and regardless of individual and place characteristics or perceptions of community‐level problems. We also find that multiple dimensions of community attachment (e.g., practical, natural, family, community trust) have independent effects on the propensity of rural residents to migrate. Our research contributes to knowledge on migration trends among rural Americans by exploring the complicated reasoning behind why people stay in, or move to, certain rural communities and not others.     

The Emotional Environment of Families Experiencing Chronic Poverty in India

The emotional environment of families living in chronic poverty in India was explored. We hypothesized that the poor (when compared to the nonpoor) would report more aversive interaction and would report less family and life satisfaction. Results showed partial support for our hypotheses. Poor husbands expressed love to wives in fewer ways than the nonpoor men, and they were more likely to use physical or verbal abuse with wives and children. Poor wives showed anger more frequently to husbands and children than the nonpoor wives. However, there were no differences between the poor and the nonpoor on family and life satisfaction. Thus, income alone was not a sufficient predictor of the family's emotional environment.     

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.     

Educational Assortative Mating and Income Dynamics in Couples: A Longitudinal Dyadic Perspective

The question of how educational assortative mating may transform couples' lives and within‐family gender inequality has gained increasing attention. Using 25 waves (1979–2012) of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and longitudinal multilevel dyad models, this study investigated how educational assortative mating shapes income dynamics in couples during the marital life course. Couples were grouped into three categories—educational hypergamy (wives less educated than their husbands), homogamy, and hypogamy (wives more educated than their husbands). Results show that change in husbands' income with marital duration is similar across couples, whereas change in wives' income varies by educational assortative mating, with wives in educational hypogamy exhibiting more positive change in income during the marital life course. The finding that husbands' long‐term economic advancement is less affected than that of wives by educational assortative mating underscores the gender‐asymmetric nature of spousal influence in heterosexual marriages.     

Consensus in the Marital Dyad: Couples' Perceptions of Contraception,Communication, and Family Life

Abstract

The present study was based on data collected (separately for husbands and wives) from 365 couples to determine levels of consensus on a series of variables related to the family forming process. Following Scheff (1967), consensus was operationalized as both agreement and coorientation in the marital dyad. The data generally indicated low levels of consensus on such variables as contraceptive efficacy, desired family size, child spacing, unwanted pregnancies, communication with spouse, and levels of alienation. The results are discussed within the framework of family planning and effective fertility control.     

Who’s About to Leave? A Global Survey of Aspirations and Intentions to Migrate

This article analyses aspirations and intentions to migrate based on Gallup World Poll for the period 2010–2015. We estimate individual‐level traits associated with aspirations and intentions to migrate across groups of countries in different regions and with different income levels. This paper brings together previous hypotheses regarding migration aspirations and tests them under several specifications, while keeping separate findings according to migration aspirations and intentions to appreciate differences between them. Being dissatisfied with one’s own standard of living is associated with a higher probability of desiring to move, while the relation with the actual preparation to migrate is less clear. Some individual traits remain significant across (almost) all specifications: being male, foreign‐born, highly educated, and having networks abroad are associated with higher probability of preparing for international migration. Aspects related to one’s economic situation are not consistently significant across specifications, signalling the importance of contextual analyses for these factors.     

INTERVENTION STRATEGIES: PREDICTING FAMILY THERAPY OUTCOME*

A pre-defined list of family therapy intervention strategies was used to predict post-therapy perceived life happiness and marital happiness among husbands and wives. Clients presented with both child and marriage-focused problems. The data were analyzed separately for husbands and wives. In general, favorable outcome for husbands was associated with active restructuring operations on the part of the therapist. Prediction of outcome for wives was less clear. However, wives did appear to respond favorably to less active interventions such as actualizing transactional patterns and reframing.     

Economic Conditions,Spouse Support,and Psychological Distress of Rural Husbands and Wives1

Abstract Previous studies of the relation between economic conditions and psychological stress among farm operators are extended by comparing farming and nonfarming husbands' and wives' depressive symptoms and by including spouse support as both a mediating and a moderating variable. Using three waves of data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, the analyses found few differences between farmers and nonfarmers, but the relation between economic pressure and distress operates differently for husbands and wives. For husbands, wives' support buffers the relation between economic pressure and husbands' sense of control over events in their lives, which in turn reduces depression. For wives, husbands' support both directly reduces their depression and buffers the effects of economic pressure on depression by weakening the relation between sense of control and feelings of depression.     

UNRAVELING THE ECONOMIC PARADOX OF FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS IN MEXICO: The Role of Family Networks

An extensive amount of research has shown that female-headed households are among the most disadvantaged in the United States. By contrast, households headed by single mothers in Mexico have median per capita income levels that are the same or higher than those headed by men and are no more likely to be living in poverty. These findings are surprising, given the many disadvantages that Mexican women face in the labor market and the added difficulties for single mothers of managing work and family life. We propose four explanations for the relatively high income levels of female-headed households in Mexico: (1) female heads' more advanced stage in the life course compared to male heads, (2) the greater financial support they receive from extended family members, (3) the international migration of the partners of female heads, and (4) a selection process whereby only women with sufficient income head their own households, while others move into households headed by someone else. Using a nationally representative survey we find that economic transfers from relatives living within the country and abroad, as well as a selection effect explain female-headed households' relatively high income.     

Embedding or Uprooting? The Effects of International Labour Migration on Rural Households in Armenia

The impact of international labour migration on human wellbeing and socioeconomic development in communities of origin is an important yet understudied issue in contemporary migration research. This study examines whether men's labour migration from rural Armenia to Russia and other international destinations enhances the economic and social connections of the left‐behind households to their communities or, on the contrary, undermines those connections and encourages household members' own migration. Using survey data, it compares families of migrants and non‐migrants with respect to ownership of productive and major non‐productive assets in the community and women's non‐farm labour force participation, their social engagement in the village, and their desires to migrate abroad. The results of statistical tests indicate that men's migration is negatively associated with households' asset ownership and with women's non‐farm employment. The results for women's social engagement in their villages are less consistent. Finally, regardless of economic attachment, social engagement, and a host of other factors, wives of migrants were significantly more likely to wish to move abroad than women married to non‐migrants, and the difference in propensity to emigrate between migrants' and non‐migrants' wives increases with duration of husband's migration. We situate these findings in the context of Central Eurasia's international labour migration system and discuss their implications for future migration trends and for socioeconomic development of Armenia and similar settings.     

Migration and Transnational Families in Fiji: Comparing Two Ethnic Groups

In the past two decades, international migration patterns out of Fiji have undergone changes with important implications for the formation of transnational families. The focus of this paper is on a comparison between the formation of Indo-Fijian transnational extended families and indigenous Fijian transnational nuclear families. These are discussed within the framework of "transnational corporations of kin."
For several decades, Indo-Fijians have permanently migrated to the Pacific Rim as a consequence of the economic and political situation in Fiji. They have resettled in complete nuclear family units and have subsequently attempted to sponsor the migration of their extended family members. Recent years have witnessed an increasing number of indigenous Fijians migrating temporarily for work. In contrast to Indo-Fijians, indigenous Fijian migrate as individuals, leaving their spouses and children behind in Fiji. Women migrate autonomously as caregivers and nurses while men find employment as soldiers and security officers. The main purpose of their mostly temporary migration is to send remittances. However, these economic benefits have to be contrasted with the social and psychological costs associated with the separation of nuclear families. The paper also discusses policy implications arising from the comparative analysis, especially in the light of the current situation in Fiji which is characterised by a lack of policies addressing the implications of migration.