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Title: Recent Changes in the Relationship Between Marital Dissolution and Women's Labor Supply Behavior: A Two-Cohort Study Using National Longitudinal Survey Data
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Sen, Bisakha |
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Recent Changes in the Relationship Between Marital Dissolution and Women's Labor Supply Behavior: A Two-Cohort Study Using National Longitudinal Survey Data Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University, Department of Economics,1998 Cohort(s): Mature Women, Young Women Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning Keyword(s): Divorce; Labor Supply; Marital Dissolution; Racial Differences; Simultaneity; Wives, Work; Women's Studies Over the past few decades, the U.S. has witnessed a steady increase in both the labor force participation rates of married women and the rates of marital dissolution. The two processes are often viewed as interconnected. Anticipation of divorce and the need to be self-sufficient is seen as a force driving married women to work. Simultaneously, such work is seen as a factor that increases the probability of divorce by decreasing gains from marriage. In this work, I utilize data from the National Longitudinal Survey for two cohorts of women to study the temporal changes between women's labor supply and marital dissolution. The first cohort is born between 1944-54, and I observe them over the l970s and early 1980s. The second cohort is born between 1957-64, and I observe them over the 1980s and early 1990s. I test three specific hypotheses: (1) That the probability of divorce plays an equal role in the labor supply decision of both cohorts. (2) That wives' labor supply exerts the same effect on probability of future divorce for both cohorts. (3) That among the women who become divorced in the two cohorts, the impact of actual divorce causes an equal change in hours and participation probability for both cohorts. Given the evidence that labor supply behavior of married women have differed historically for blacks and whites, I test the three hypotheses separately by race. I argue that over time, women are increasing their labor supply due to unobservable changes like change in social norms and changes in the technology of household production. Therefore, the relationships between women's work and marital dissolution are weakening across cohorts, and I should be able to reject all three hypotheses. I am able to reject all three hypotheses for white women. I fail to reject the first and second hypotheses for black women. I also fail to reject the third hypothesis with respect to hours, but not with respect to participation probabilities. Hence, I conclude that there have been substantial changes in the relationship between women's labor supply and marital dissolution across cohorts for whites, but not for blacks. |
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Bibliography Citation
Sen, Bisakha. Recent Changes in the Relationship Between Marital Dissolution and Women's Labor Supply Behavior: A Two-Cohort Study Using National Longitudinal Survey Data. Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University, Department of Economics,1998. |