Full Citation
Title: Meaning of Housewife
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2000
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Abstract: As the majority of married women are currently in the labor force, being a full-time housewife is no longer the default status for married women. The present study focuses upon the meaning of housewife by examining three factors which may explain the increase in married womens labor force participation in the past 30 years: economic necessity, increase in womens earning power, and changes in gender-role attitudes. Using data from the Census and Current Population Survey, we find that married womens employment status shows an inverse U-curve against their husbands income ranking. Whether controlling for age, educational attainment, the number of children, and the number of young children, married women are less likely to be employed when their husbands are either in the top or bottom brackets of the income distribution. Women married to husbands with higher incomes can afford to stay at home, if they choose. In contrast, those married to husbands with relatively smaller incomes may have to stay at home due to their own insufficient human capital. We also examine historical changes in the relationship between the husbands income and wifes employment status, taking into consideration the historical decrease in the average real wage among men. We find that the inverse U-curve became more pronounced between 1970 and 1980. The relative importance of the effect of husbands earning power on the wifes labor force participation has decreased for the last 5 decades or so. These results are consistent with the argument that American women, whether married or not, are expected to participate in the labor force unless they are retired, in school, or married to wealthy husbands.
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Authors: Stainback, Melissa; Yoshinori, Kamo
Conference Name: SSS Conference
Publisher Location: New Orleans, LA
Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS CPS
Topics: Family and Marriage, Labor Force and Occupational Structure
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