Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Wife's employment'

This thesis investigates Japanese married men??s views on their wives?? employment and married women??s employment in general. I was inspired to undertake this study by the relatively low rate of wives, particularly mothers, in full-time employment in Japan. 291 Japanese husbands in Kawasaki and the Tokyo area answered the questionnaire. Their occupations were company employees, teachers and self-employed men and their ages ranged from the 20s to 50s. The results of my survey revealed that these Japanese husbands did not actively participate in housework and childcare. Their participation increased somewhat when wives were highly educated or older. However, a wife??s higher income was the most powerful incentive to encourage their participation. Husbands also participate in these tasks in accordance with their preferences rather than their expressed abilities. With respect to their views on married women and employment, many husbands acknowledged a general relationship between power and finance (that is, that income-earning is connected with domestic power), yet denied that it applied to themselves when asked about it. The majority showed supportive or sympathetic attitudes towards full-time housewives, which were rarely extended to employed wives except for those who work (part-time) due to clear financial necessity. Concerning men??s views on their wives, they were likely to appreciate a wife??s additional income. Nonetheless, a majority wanted their wives either to earn less than themselves or to have no income, even though the majority had income-earning wives. Their most popular employment status for a wife was part-time employment. The study revealed that most of these husbands had a strong identity as the ??breadwinner?? or ??head of the house??. In this study I explored a new dimension to Japanese husbands?? perceptions of their wives?? employment: the possibility that husbands?? attitudes and preferences were militating against their wives?? employment. My study demonstrated that husbands especially resist full-time employment for their wives, and seek to maintain traditional gender roles because this sustains their self-esteem. This is clearly one significant reason for the comparatively low rate of participation of Japanese wives in full-time employment.

My research is centered around the questions: How can such a modernized country, considered by many to be the cleanest, friendliest, most welcoming place to visit (certainly surpassing the United States on such standards), not be more welcoming of women in employment? Further, what are the main problems hindering women in employment today, and from where do these problems originate? That is, how did the present situation for women’s employment in Japan come to light? I endeavor to answer these questions, beginning by uncovering the major issues in women’s employment and then tracing their origins back in history to discover when and why they developed into what they are today.

The relationship among role strain, coping, and stress was quantitatively assessed using responses from 190 dual-career husbands and wives. Cluster analysis of stress scores resulted in the adoption of a six-cluster solution. MANOVA on role strain confirmed a significant effect by Cluster, F(15,455)=8.92, p=.001. Post hoc analyses indicated that Cluster VI had significantly lower scores from all other clusters on all three role categories: marital, professional, and parental. Cluster I had significantly higher scores than Cluster v and VI on all three role strain categories. MANOVA on coping strategies confirmed a significant effect by Cluster, F(35,709)=1.95, p=.001. Although individuals in this sample reported low to moderate strain and stress, significant variation existed within the sample. Individuals experiencing the lowest strain and stress employed two coping responses most often, Delegating Responsibility and Cognitive Restructuring. The results are explained with regard to stage of career and family development and child care concerns.
Ph. D.

In this thesis we study the interdependency of individual decisions on work and family, particularly the dynamic interaction of the marriage market and the labor market. My basic idea is that marital status affects individual labor supply decisions, and in turn, labor market condition influences marriage formation and dissolution. While these interactions are evident, the overwhelming majority of research on labor or family economics usually simplifies the individual decision-making by assuming that one of two markets outcomes is given while studying the other one. In the empirical study, endogeneity issues are troublesome, especially under the dynamic setting. My work takes a different approach. I directly model the individual decision-making, which describes how marriage market and labor market interact with each other; and matching with survey data we empirically recover the underlying economic environments that characterize the structure of the marriage market and the labor market. I further examine to what extent my model explains the observed facts. Very few studies have been conducted to explore work and family issues in this direction partly due to its complexity. The structural models, besides the conventional regression, improve our perceptions on how individuals form decisions on work and family, which have far-reaching implications on policy designs and welfare evaluations. In my thesis, I explore all these issues in three steps. In chapter 1, I explain a stylized fact that there exists a positive correlation between rising wage inequality and declining marriage rates. A two-sided matching model is developed to exploit a theoretical channel through which wage inequality affects marriage rates. My model features a steady state equilibrium in which the whole marriage market is divided into groups and only people in the same group will marry each other. Using the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) data from 1970 to 2000, my estimates indicate that a structural change occurs in the U.S. marriage market. The higher matching efficiency and declining elasticity of men suggest that the nowadays marriage market provides more chance to meet and better gender equity, though higher arrival rates also raise the outside options of getting married. Additionally, I find that wage inequality accounts for over 38% of the decline in marriage rate, which is underestimated in Gould (2003). Chapter 2 examines household dynamic labor supply after introducing bargaining between husbands and wives, which has not been thoroughly studied previously in literature. Here bargaining between husbands and wives determines the amount of husbands' earnings that are transferred to wives for their private consumption. A household search model that incorporates the intrahousehold bargaining is developed and estimated using panel data from the year 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). My results show that the portion of household income shared by husbands for private consumption is responsive to their employment status, suggesting the existence of the bargaining between the U.S. couples. My findings also imply that the labor supply of women will increase with higher women wage and lower money transfer from husbands to wives, showing that the income effect dominates for wives. Moreover, the wage frontier of husbands is positively correlated with wives' wages and negatively correlated with husbands' earnings transferred to wives, highlighting that husbands are subject to both the income effect and intra-household bargaining, and their decisions depend on which effect dominates. In the third and the last chapter, I study household unemployment duration. Previously, most studies have addressed the topic of job search at the individual level. This chapter studies job search patterns of married couples and in particular compares couple's unemployment duration given their spousal earnings. A household search model is introduced, which includes the bargaining between husbands and wives. I use the year 2001 panel data Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to estimate the structural model of family decisions. Our findings reveal that there exists a gender asymmetry in job search of the U.S. household: The more husbands earn, the longer wives search for a job; but the more wives earn, the sooner husbands find a job.
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碩士
國立臺灣大學
社會學研究所
107
Previous studies suggest that married women’s personal and work characteristics, their husband’s personal and work characteristics, and their parenting statuses may influence married women’s employment decisions. Using data from the "East Asian Social Class and Social Mobility to Study the Basic Survey of Taiwan''s Social Changes", the current study investigates how the risk of exiting from employment among Taiwanese married women is shaped by their family life cycles. Moreover, the current study further investigates how the association between married women’s risk of employment withdrawal and family life cycles may be conditioned by women’s own and their husband’s personal and work characteristics. The current study found that the risk of employment withdrawal for married women are highest for times before they start to have children and when they are rearing young children at ages 3 or below. The heightened risk of employment withdrawal married women experienced before they started to have children suggests that family care burden for Taiwanese women may not simply come from rearing and caring for young children alone. The current study found that the risk of employment withdrawal for higher-educated married women who are rearing pre-school children at ages 3 or below are lower, however, the risk of employment withdrawal for married women who have tertiary education level is highest when married women have children at ages 6-18. The current study found that the risk of employment withdrawal for married women who work excessive hours would be high, and the risk would become higher when they are rearing children at ages 3-6. At last, the husband’s working hours and education level have no significant effect on the risk of employment withdrawal among married women in the study. The current study further focuses on the moderating effects of wife’s own and husband’s personal and work characteristics on the risk of employment withdrawal for married women. It found the risk of employment withdrawal for married women in family life cycle would become different because of their education level and work characteristics.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1996.
Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-79).

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment for the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts.
The present research aimed to illustrate a link between the two domains of work and abuse. It was an investigation into "the various relationships which exist between spouse abuse and intrapersonal and alternative interpersonal coping resources in employed women.The intrapersonal coping resources identified in past literature and currently examined included self-esteem and level of depression. Alternative interpersonal resources provided by the work sphere were also included for investigation; namely work social support and value-rich work. Amixed quantitative-qual itative research design yielded measures on the five variables of spouse abuse, self-esteem, depression, work social support, and value-rich work; as well as on the two dimensions of physical and non-physical violence, and an additional variable of work support obtained from counselling programmes.The final sample consisted of 106 female employees from a variety of occupational groups. A content analysis of information regarding workplace counselling programmes and its effect on self-esteem and depression generated insignificant results. However, quantitative analyses via Pearson's Product MomentCorrelation Coefficients, one-way ANOVA's and multiple moderated regressions, illustrated very strong support for the remaining hypotheses. This implied that significant relationships did exist between abuse and the coping resources of self-esteem, depression. work support and value-rich work.

Die motivering vir die studie was die leemte aan en behoefte vir navorsing oor dubbelloopbaanhuwelike en tussenrolkonflik in Suid-Afrika. Die doelstelling was om vas te stel of daar 'n verband tussen tussenrolkonflik en werkstevredenheid by egpare in dubbelloopbaanhuwelike bestaan, en of eggenotes in sodanige huwelike tussenrolkonflik en werkstevredenheid verskillend ervaar. 'n Teoretiese ondersoek oor tussenrolkonflik en werkstevredenheid is gedoen. Die empiriese ondersoek het bestaan uit die meting van hierdie veranderlikes met behulp van Tussenrolkonflik- en Behoeftebevredigingsvraelyste. Die resultate toon aan dat daar geen statisties beduidende verbande tussen die veranderlikes bestaan nie. Daar bestaan ook geen statisties beduidende verskille tussen mans en vroue in dubbelloopbaanhuwelike ten opsigte van hul ervaring van tussenrolkonflik en werkstevredenheid nie. Die studie dra by tot 'n beter begrip van tussenrolkonflik in dubbelloopbaanhuwelike, en toon aan dat die Tussenrolkonflikvraelys betroubare resultate in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks kan lewer. Die resultate toon egter dat wyer, meer gesofistikeerde navorsing belangrik is.
In order to fill the gap in existing research on the topic, this study was undertaken to establish whether a relationship exists between interrole conflict and job satisfaction in married couples with full time careers, and whether these couples experience interrole conflict and job satisfaction differently. A theoretical study regarding interrole conflict and job satisfaction was undertaken. In the empirical study these variables were measured using Need Satisfaction and lnterrole Conflict Questionnaires. No statistically significant relationships were found between interrole conflict and job satisfaction; and no statistically significant differences exist between men and women with regard to their experience of job satisfaction and interrole conflict. The research contributes towards a better understanding of interrole conflict in dual career marriages, and indicates that the lnterrole Conflict Questionnaire can deliver reliable results in the South African context. However, the results show the importance of wider, more sophisticated research.
Industrial and Organisational Psychology
MCOM (Bedrysielkunde)

Text in English
The transition from traditional to non-traditional marital roles was brought about by changes in the political, social and economic spheres. Within this transition, a new family arrangement has emerged in which traditional marital roles of breadwinning husband and care-giving, nurturer-wife are replaced by a breadwinning wife and a care-giving, nurturer-husband, the so-called stay-at-home husband. Various factors contributed and necessitated this change in marital roles, such as, but not limited to, the feminist movement, the economic recession, changes in legislation, retrenchments and so forth. However, making this transition is not easy. These couples, fulfilling non-traditional marital roles, are faced with stigmatisation and negative attitudes that make them want to conceal their marital roles from family, friends, the community and society as a whole. This state of affairs results in a situation where these couples stay in the closet and as consequence the topic is ill-researched and ripe for further investigation. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, this study explored and described the challenges, experiences and coping resources of couples fulfilling non-traditional marital roles in order to propose practice guidelines to support these couples from a social work perspective. A total of ten couples participated in the study. Independently, the working wives and stay-at-home husbands provided separate accounts of realities related to fulfilling the non-traditional marital roles within their respective marital relationships. Themes that emerged from the in-depth description of their experiences reflected the benefits accrued, the challenges experienced, their needs and coping resources. From the information provided suggestions were derived for social workers to assist couples in a similar working wife and stay-at-home husband marriage set-up to deal with situations encountered. In consulting extant literature, research on this phenomenon appeared to be totally neglected both internationally and nationally. Hence this study sought to address this lacuna by specifically investigating the situation in South Africa. It also appeared that existing research tended to focus on either the stay-at-home mother or the dual career family. Research on the experiences of stay-at-home husbands was thus severely lacking as were ways in which such couples in these roles could be supported. Therefore, making use of the ecological and role theory perspectives, attention is given to exposing their experiences, challenges and coping resources with a view to developing practice guidelines for helping social work practitioners to adequately support these couples practising non-traditional marital roles.
Social Work
Ph. D. (Social Work)

This thesis examined husband immobility and the international migration of married women from Zimbabwe. Data was collected from husbands and wives in married couple households where the wife had migrated alone. Face-to-face semi structured interviews were conducted with migrant women’s husbands in Zimbabwe while migrant women were interviewed in countries of destination telephonically. Empirical results showed that migrant women and their husbands were middle aged. Preferred countries of destination were in the region and the United Kingdom. Having a wife’s own social contacts in the preferred destination encouraged migration by reducing financial and emotional costs. Husbands' immobility facilitated wifely migration. Many wives exercised agency in migration decision making with more wives than husbands having initiated the discussion on migration. There were also cases of joint and wife sole decision making. With a few exceptions decision making was consensual. The women migrated as a survival strategy. In several households remittances were the primary source of income. Husbands were the main recipients of remittances. Some wives gave instructions on how the remittances should be used. Overall, remittances were used for paying fees, buying assets and for household upkeep. Some of the women had not visited their families since their migration. The physical separation of spouses had caused emotional distress in some marital relationships. The majority of respondents cited loss of consortium as a major problem.
Sociology
D. Phil.

D.Litt. et Phil.
In recent research studies that have been done within the cadre of family sociology, researchers have emphasised the fact that the role of the man in the family is an important topic. This interest in the role of the husband/father has been facilitated by significant trends and changes of our time, manifesting world-wide, as well as in South Africa. These trends, such as the continuous rise in the rate of married women entering the labour market and the accompanying issues raised by changes in terms of the spouses' participation in household and childcare responsibilities, affect family life extensively. More researchers and theorists are now focussing on the shift from the man's role in the family as sole breadwinner to that of the active nurturant father within the context of a marital relationship characterised by companionship and an equal partnership between the spouses. For several decades the focus in South Africa, as in the case of other countries, fell on the increasing interface between work and family life, within the work/family spillover model, as experienced by the working married woman and how her marital and familial relationships are influenced by it. While it is clear from these research results, especially from those studies conducted in South Africa, that most men are no longer the sole or primary breadwinner in the family, it is less clear what new patterns of commitment and involvement these men are developing with regard to their family life. A related methodological shortcoming of sociological research on the husband/father role to date is that much of these research projects have relied on the wife/mother's report on her husband's attitude towards domestic responsibilities, his spousal and paternal conduct and the quality of the father-child relationship. As a result of this perspective on the changing role of the husband/father, the question arose as to what the situation in South Africa might be. The aim of this research was to shed light on the man's perception of his roles as husband and father in the dual-earner family and to what extent this perception may or may not stand in relationship to his experience of marital integration. In this quantitative research project the respondents were selected from the Gauteng area by means of purposive and snowball sampling.