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Partner Choice and Women's Paid Work in Sweden - The Role of Earnings

Author

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  • Henz, Ursula

    (Institute for Gerontology, King’s College London)

  • Sundström, Marianne

    (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University)

Abstract

Recent observations of higher labour -market activity among women with a high-earning spouse and widened household inequality have spurred research interest in earnings homogamy and in effects of own and spouse’s earnings on female labour supply. This article studies trends in earnings homogamy among married and cohabiting parents and in effects of own and spouse’s earnings on mothers’ time in employment and non-employment in Sweden. We analyse, first, correlations between spouses’ earnings and, second, effects of time -varying own and spouse’s earnings on mothers’ transitions between part-time and full-time work, on their exits from and re-entries into employment and on their exits from parental leave over the years 1968-92. We use individual life histories from the 1992 Swedish Family Survey combined with longitudinal information on earnings from the national taxation register. A unique aspect of this data set is that it has very accurate longitudinal earnings information for both married and cohabiting spouses, including former spouses. We find that mothers’ own earnings have a larger and more significant impact on their labour -market transitions than spouse’s earnings and that the impact of the latter has even declined over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Henz, Ursula & Sundström, Marianne, 2001. "Partner Choice and Women's Paid Work in Sweden - The Role of Earnings," Working Paper Series 1/2000, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2000_001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yassine Khoudja & Fenella Fleischmann, 2017. "Labor Force Participation of Immigrant Women in the Netherlands: Do Traditional Partners Hold Them Back?," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 506-541, June.
    2. Åström, Johanna, 2009. "The Effects of Assortative Mating on Earnings: Human Capital Spillover or Specialization?," HUI Working Papers 34, HUI Research.
    3. Anja-Kristin Abendroth, 2014. "Country Differences in the Relationship between Incomes and Wage Rates of Working Partners," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 641, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Martin Dribe & Paul Nystedt, 2013. "Educational Homogamy and Gender-Specific Earnings: Sweden, 1990–2009," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1197-1216, August.
    5. Guiping Liu & Andres Vikat, 2004. "Does divorce risk depend on spouses´ relative income? A register-based study of first marriages in Sweden in 1981–1998," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2004-010, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    6. Francesconi, Marco & Brynin, Malcolm, 2002. "The material returns to partnership: the effects of educational matching on labour market outcomes and gender equality," ISER Working Paper Series 2002-23, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    7. Ellen Verbakel & Paul M. de Graaf, 2009. "Partner effects on labour market participation and job level: opposing mechanisms," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(4), pages 635-654, December.
    8. Lalaina H. Hirvonen, 2008. "Intergenerational Earnings Mobility Among Daughters and Sons: Evidence from Sweden and a Comparison with the United States," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(5), pages 777-826, November.
    9. Björklund, Anders & Ginther, Donna K. & Sundström, Marianne, 2007. "Does Marriage Matter for Children? Assessing the Causal Impact of Legal Marriage," IZA Discussion Papers 3189, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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