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Author: Winholtz, Gerald M.
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Winholtz, Gerald M.
Some Economic Determinants and Consequences of Marital Disruption
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1981
Cohort(s): Mature Women, Young Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Marital Disruption; Transfers, Skill; Urbanization/Urban Living; Women

This thesis represents an effort to formulate and test a theory which might account for the sharp rise in marital dissolution in recent decades. It was hypothesized that the increasing economic independence of women constitutes a critical factor in the upsurge in marital dissolution: with greater economic independence, marital dissolution becomes a less costly, more viable alternative for women. The NLS cohorts of Young Women and Mature Women were used to attempt to test the theory. Relevant variables to the increasing availability of employment for women were used: level of women's earnings, number of children, presence of a young child, and availability and level of public assistance payments. A set of control variables was also utilized, including age, age at marriage, duration of marriage, urban residence, husband's income instability, and level of husband's earnings. Availability of employment for women exhibited the expected influence: a significant increase in the probability of marital dissolution. In sum, the hypothesis regarding the centrality of a wife's economic independence as a determinant of marital dissolution was only partially upheld. To the extent that the economic independence of women may have been a significant factor in rising divorce rates in recent decades, these findings suggest that it is the increasing availability of jobs for women that is the key factor. Somewhat surprisingly, older women whose marriages dissolved experienced less absolute decline in economic well-being and remained better off than younger women. Those women whose husbands had more unstable income incurred a lesser absolute decline in economic well-being. However the most important determinant of economic well-being among those women whose marriage dissolved was their potential earnings.
Bibliography Citation
Winholtz, Gerald M. Some Economic Determinants and Consequences of Marital Disruption. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1981.