Categorizing Married Couple Expected Employment Prioritization in the Post-Recession United States

Abstract

-ABSTRACT. This paper focuses on one possible influence of the Great Recession on family life, the expected level of support for relocation due to job opportunity. Using unique data from 116 married individuals in the United States, married couples are categorized by expectations for employment prioritization. Couples are categorized as egalitarian (reporting equal willingness to relocate in support of either spouse's employment), traditional (reporting greater willingness to relocate in support of the husband's employment), or non-traditional (reporting greater willingness to relocate in support of the wife's employment). Analyses reveal significant differences in the factors correlated with being categorized as egalitarian, traditional, or nontraditional. Couple history, measured as marital duration and previous career prioritization, and husband's human capital characteristics (education and occupational prestige) are the main factors that distinguish among the couple types. The analysis provides insight into the ways couples renegotiate gender and power vis-à-vis their interaction with structural constraints.