Abstract
The specialization theory from Gary Becker is often used to explain the
effect of women’s work on the risk of divorce. The main argument is that
women with little work experience have higher economic costs to exit
marriage. Using the Fertility and Family Surveys, we test for 16
countries to what extent women’s employment increases the risk of
separation. We also more directly examine the role of economic exit
costs in separation by investigating the effect of separated women’s
work history during the union on women’s post-separation employment. The
results imply that Becker was right to some extent, especially in
contexts with little female employment support. However, in settings
where women’s employment opportunities are more ample, sociological or
psychological theories have probably more explanatory power to explain
the causes and consequences of union dissolution.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 261-278 |
| Journal | Social Science Research |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | November |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- SSCI
- cross-national comparison
- gender role norms
- women's employment
- role spezialization
- selection
- uninion dissolution