Work patterns and marital status change

The impact of marital status changes on the lives of adults and children has increased importance as marriage, divorce, and remarriage have become more frequent patterns of family composition change. These events can often be predicted by the family members involved so that they may be accompanied by changes in labor market activity prior to the events themselves. The study reported here uses panel data to examine the labor market activity changes that precede marital status changes. Women who become divorced increase hours of work in the year or two before the divorce occurs, and women who become remarried decrease hours of work in the year of the remarriage and thereafter. For men there seems to be little change in labor supply during these years. However, hours of housework for men do seem to change.This research has been supported by the United States Department of Agriculture through the New York Agricultural Experiment Station under Southern Regional Project S-206. The data utilized in this work were made available in part by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. The data were originally collected by James N. Morgan, et al. The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the view of the Inter-University Consortium or the institutions with which the researchers are affiliated. We wish to especially thank Robert Avery for his helpful comments throughout this research and Veronica Abel for her able research assistance.Jennifer L. Gerner is Associate Professor, Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, 137 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Her research interests include the economics of the family and family organization. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Catherine Phillips Montalto is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Her research interests include the economic behavior of households. W. Keith Bryant is Professor and Chair of the Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, 117D Martha Van Rensselaer, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.