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Men's Unpaid Work and Divorce: Reassessing Specialization and Trade in British Families

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  • Wendy Sigle-Rushton

Abstract

Economists have spent a good deal of time examining and trying to explain the positive association between female employment and divorce. However, in doing so, they have paid very little attention to the behavior of men. This paper addresses that oversight. Using data from the 1970 British Cohort Study - a study conducted at a time when gendered specialization was the normative household arrangement for families with small children and when economic theories of marriage and divorce were first being developed - this study considers whether and how fathers' contributions to unpaid work are associated with divorce. Information on fathers' involvement in domestic work and childcare permits a deeper exploration of the relationship between mother's employment and divorce. Contrary to what gains from specialization and trade predict, the findings suggest that fathers' home production stabilizes marriage regardless of mothers' employment statuses.

Suggested Citation

  • Wendy Sigle-Rushton, 2010. "Men's Unpaid Work and Divorce: Reassessing Specialization and Trade in British Families," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 1-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:16:y:2010:i:2:p:1-26
    DOI: 10.1080/13545700903448801
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gershuny, Jonathan, 2000. "Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287872.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christina Boll & Julian Leppin & Nora Reich, 2014. "Paternal childcare and parental leave policies: evidence from industrialized countries," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 129-158, March.
    2. Francesca Marchetta & Hugues Champeaux, 2021. "Couples in lockdown, ”La vie en rose” ? Evidence from France," Working Papers hal-03364429, HAL.
    3. Gøsta Esping-Andersen & Francesco C. Billari, 2015. "Re-theorizing Family Demographics," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 41(1), pages 1-31, March.
    4. Frances Goldscheider & Eva Bernhardt & Trude Lappegård, 2015. "The Gender Revolution: A Framework for Understanding Changing Family and Demographic Behavior," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 41(2), pages 207-239, June.
    5. Letizia Mencarini & Daniele Vignoli, 2014. "Women’s employment makes unions more stable, if the male partners contribute to the unpaid household work," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2014_06, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    6. Auspurg, Katrin & Iacovou, Maria & Nicoletti, Cheti, 2014. "Housework Share between Partners: Experimental Evidence on Gender Identity," IZA Discussion Papers 8569, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Daniele Vignoli & Anna Matysiak & Marta Styrc & Valentina Tocchioni, 2018. "The positive impact of women’s employment on divorce: Context, selection, or anticipation?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(37), pages 1059-1110.
    8. Elena Bastianelli & Daniele Vignoli, 2022. "The Gendered Relationship Between (Old and New Forms of) Employment Instability and Union Dissolution," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 1021-1048, June.
    9. Katie R. Genadek, 2018. "Unilateral Divorce and Time Allocation in the United States," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 63-87, January.
    10. Ausra Maslauskaite & Aiva Jasilioniene & Domantas Jasilionis & Vladislava Stankuniene & Vladimir Shkolnikov, 2015. "Socio-economic determinants of divorce in Lithuania: Evidence from register-based census-linked data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(30), pages 871-908.
    11. Letizia Mencarini & Daniele Vignoli, 2014. "Woman's employment makes unions more stable, if the partner contributes to the unpaid work," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 377, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    12. Malcolm, Michael & Abdurrahman, Zainab, 2014. "The High Cost Of Specialization: Labor Market Outcomes Following Divorce," Review of Applied Economics, Lincoln University, Department of Financial and Business Systems, vol. 10(1-2), January.
    13. Elena Bastianelli & Daniele Vignoli, 2021. "Instability of Employment Careers and Union Dissolution. A Complex Micro-level Relation," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2021_04, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    14. Trude Lappegård & Ann-Zofie Duvander & Gerda Neyer & Ida Viklund & Synøve N. Andersen & Ólöf Garðarsdóttir, 2020. "Fathers’ Use of Parental Leave and Union Dissolution," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(1), pages 1-25, March.
    15. Rannveig K. Hart & Synøve N. Andersen & Nina Drange, 2019. "Effects of extended paternity leave on union stability and fertility," Discussion Papers 899, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    16. Schober, Pia S., 2013. "Gender Equality and Outsourcing of Domestic Work, Childbearing, and Relationship Stability Among British Couples," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 25-52.

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