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Rethinking the Two-Body Problem: The Segregation of Women Into Geographically Dispersed Occupations

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  • Alan Benson

Abstract

Empirical research on the family cites the tendency for couples to relocate for husbands’ careers as evidence against the gender neutrality of household economic decisions. For these studies, occupational segregation is a concern because occupations are not random by sex and mobility is not random by occupation. I find that the tendency for households to relocate for husbands’ careers is better explained by the segregation of women into geographically dispersed occupations rather than by the direct prioritization of men’s careers. Among never-married workers, women relocate for work less often than men, and the gender effect disappears after occupational segregation is accounted for. Although most two-earner families feature husbands in geographically clustered jobs involving frequent relocation for work, families are no less likely to relocate for work when it belongs to the wife. I conclude that future research in household mobility should treat occupational segregation occurring prior to marriage rather than gender bias within married couples as the primary explanation for the prioritization of husbands’ careers in household mobility decisions. Copyright Population Association of America 2014

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  • Alan Benson, 2014. "Rethinking the Two-Body Problem: The Segregation of Women Into Geographically Dispersed Occupations," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1619-1639, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:51:y:2014:i:5:p:1619-1639
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-014-0324-7
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    2. Petrongolo, Barbara & Ronchi, Maddalena, 2020. "A survey of gender gaps through the lens of the industry structure and local labor markets," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108438, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Katariina Mueller-Gastell, 2023. "Poach or Promote? Job Sorting and Gender Earnings Inequality across U.S. Industries," Working Papers 23-23, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    4. Jennifer Roberts & Karl Taylor, 2017. "Intra-household commuting choices and local labour markets," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(3), pages 734-757.
    5. Petrongolo, Barbara & Ronchi, Maddalena, 2020. "Gender gaps and the structure of local labor markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 789-865, September.
    7. Raven Molloy & Christopher L. Smith & Abigail Wozniak, 2017. "Job Changing and the Decline in Long-Distance Migration in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(2), pages 631-653, April.
    8. Foged, Mette, 2016. "Family migration and relative earnings potentials," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 87-100.
    9. Barbara Boelmann, 2024. "Women's Missing Mobility and the Gender Gap in Higher Education: Evidence from Germany's University Expansion," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_518, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    10. Zhang, Hanzhe & Zou, Ben, 2023. "A marriage-market perspective on risk-taking and career choices," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    11. Martin Abraham & Sebastian Bähr & Mark Trappmann, 2019. "Gender differences in willingness to move for interregional job offers," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(53), pages 1537-1602.
    12. Raven Molloy & Christopher L. Smith & Abigail Wozniak, 2013. "Declining Migration wihin the US: The Role of the Labor Market," Working Papers 13-53, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    13. Jiang, Xuan, 2021. "Women in STEM: Ability, preference, and value," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    14. Shishir Shakya & Alicia Plemmons & Conor Norris, 2024. "Military Spouse Licensing: A Case Study of Registered Nurses within Military Bases Proximity," Working Papers 24-09, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    15. Sergi Vidal & Johannes Huinink, 2019. "Introduction to the special collection on spatial mobility, family dynamics, and gender relations," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(21), pages 593-616.
    16. Xing, Chunbing & Yuan, Xiaoyan & Zhang, Junfu, 2022. "City size, family migration, and gender wage gap: Evidence from rural–urban migrants in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    17. Rafael Sánchez & Javier Finot & Mauricio G. Villena, 2022. "Gender wage gap and firm market power: evidence from Chile," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(18), pages 2109-2121, April.
    18. Francine D. Blau & Anne E. Winkler, 2017. "Women, Work, and Family," NBER Working Papers 23644, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Shishir Shakya & Alicia Plemmons & Conor Norris, 2024. "Military spouse licensing: a case study of registered nurses near military bases," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 135-156, December.
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    21. Lanu Kim, 2021. "Geographical Locations of Occupations and Information and Communication Technology: Do Online Tools Impact Where People in the United States Live and Work?," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, August.
    22. Soyoung Kim, 2022. "Commuting Time Patterns of Dual-Earner Couples in Korea," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 105-123, May.

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