This study explores the impact of couples' employment/retirement patterns on indicators of marital quality (conflicts, heated arguments, marital happiness). Logistic regressions based on data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N= 672) reveal that the husband retired/wife employed pattern is associated with perceptions of lower marital quality among traditional gender-role couples. On the other hand, traditional gender-role employed husbands with retired wives report somewhat higher marital quality than husbands in dual-earner couples. In addition, dual-retired spouses with recently retired wives score lower on marital happiness than spouses in current dual-earner couples.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aiken, L. S.
and S. G. West. 1991. Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Newbury Park: Sage.
2.
Anderson, K.
, R. L. Clark, and T. Johnson. 1980. "Retirement in Dual-Career Families." Pp. 109-127 in Retirement Policy in an Aging Society, edited by R. L. Clark. Durham: Duke University Press.
3.
Atchley, R. C.1982. "The Process of Retirement: Comparing Women and Men." Pp. 153-168 in Women's Retirement: Policy Implications of Recent Research, edited by M. Szinovacz. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
4.
Atchley, R. C.1992. "Retirement and Marital Satisfaction." Pp. 145-158 in Families and Retirement, edited by M. Szinovacz, D. J. Ekerdt, and B. H. Vinick. Newbury Park: Sage.
5.
Atchley, R. C.
and S. J. Miller. 1983. '"Types of Elderly Couples." Pp. 77-90 in Family Relationships in Later Life, edited by T. H. Brubaker. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
6.
Bosse, R.
, C. M. Aldwin, M. R. Levenson, and K. Workman-Daniels. 1991. "How Stressful Is Retirement? Findings From the Normative Aging Study."Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences46:P9-P14.
7.
Brubaker, T. H.
and C. B. Hennon. 1982. "Responsibility for Household Tasks: Comparing Dual-Earner and Dual-Retired Marriages." Pp. 205-219 in Women's Retirement: Policy Implications of Recent Research, edited by M. Szinovacz. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
8.
Clark, R. L.
, T. Johnson, and A. McDermed. 1980. "Allocation of Time and Resources by Married Couples Approaching Retirement."Social Security Bulletin43:3-16.
9.
DeMaris, A.1992. Logit Modeling: Practical Applications. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
10.
Dorfman, L. T.1992. "Couples in Retirement: Division of Household Work." Pp. 159-173 in Families and Retirement, edited by M. Szinovacz, D. J. Ekerdt, and B. H. Vinick. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
11.
Dorfman, L. T.
, D. A. Heckert. E. A. Hill, and F. J. Kohout. 1988. "Retirement Satisfaction in Rural Husbands and Wives."Rural Sociology53:25-39.
12.
Ekerdt, D. J.
and B. H. Vinick. 1991. "Marital Complaints in Husband-Working and Husband-Retired Couples."Research on Aging13:364-382.
13.
Gilford, R.1984. "Contrasts in Marital Satisfaction Throughout Old Age: An Exchange Theory Analysis."Journal of Gerontology39:325-333.
14.
Harbert, E.
, B. H. Vinick, and D. J. Ekerdt. 1992. "Marriage and Retirement: Advice to Couples in Popular Literature." Pp. 263-278 in Qualitative Methods in Family Research, edited by J. F. Gilgun, K. Daly, and G. Handel. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
15.
Henretta, J. C.
and A. M. O'R and 1983. "Joint Retirement in the Dual Worker Family."Social Forces62:504-520.
16.
Hurd, M. D.1990. "The Joint Retirement Decision of Husbands and Wives." Pp. 231-258 in Issues in the Economics of Aging, edited by D. A. Wise. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
17.
Jaccard, J.
, R. Turrisi, and C. K. Wan. 1990. Interaction Effects in Multiple Regression. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
18.
Keith, P. M.
and R. B. Schafer. 1986. "Housework, Disagreement, and Depression Among Younger and Older Couples."American Behavioral Scientist29:405-422.
19.
Keith, P. M.
, E. A. Powers, and W. J. Goudy. 1981. "Older Men in Employed and Retired Families."Alternative Lifestyles4:228-241.
20.
Keith, P. M.
and R. R. Wacker. 1990. "Sex Roles in the Older Family." Pp. 115-141 in Family Relationships in Later Life, 2nd ed., edited by T. H. Brubaker. Newbury Park: Sage.
21.
Larson, R.1978. "Thirty Years of Research on the Subjective Well-Being of Older Americans."Journal of Gerontology33:109-125.
22.
Lee, G. R.
and C. L. Shehan. 1989. "Retirement and Marital Satisfaction."Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences44:S226-S230.
23.
O'Rand, A. M.
, J. C. Henretta, and M. L. Krecker. 1992. "Family Pathways to Retirement." Pp. 81-98 in Families and Retirement, edited by M. Szinovacz, D. J. Ekerdt, and B. H. Vinick. Newbury Park: Sage.
24.
Ross, C. E.
, J. Mirowsky, and J. Huber. 1983. "Dividing Work, Sharing Work, and In-Between: Marriage Patterns and Depression."American Sociological Review48:809-823.
25.
Shaw, L. B.1984. "Retirement Plans of Middle-Aged Married Women."The Gerontologist24:154-159.
26.
Stull, D. C.1988. "A Dyadic Approach to Predicting Well-Being in Later Life."Research on Aging10:81-101.
27.
Sweet, J.
, L. Bumpass, and V. Call. 1988. The Design and Content of the National Survey of Families and Households. NSFH Working Paper no. 1, Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin.
28.
Szinovacz, M.1980. "Female Retirement: Effects on Spousal Roles and Marital Adjustment."Journal of Family Issues3:423-438.
29.
Szinovacz, M.1989. "Decision Making on Retirement Timing." Pp. 286-310 in Dyadic Decision Making, edited by D. Brinberg and J. Jaccard. New York: Springer.
30.
Szinovacz, M.
, D. J. Ekerdt, and B. H. Vinick. 1992. "Families and Retirement: Conceptual and Methodological Issues." Pp. 1-19 in Families and Retirement, edited by M. Szinovacz, D. J. Ekerdt, and B. H. Vinick. Newbury Park: Sage.
31.
Szinovacz, M.
and P. Harpster. 1994. "Couples' Employment/Retirement Status and the Division of Household Tasks."Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences49(3):S125-S136.
32.
Vinick, B. H.
and D. J. Ekerdt. 1991a. "The Transition to Retirement: Responses of Husbands and Wives." Pp. 305-317 in Growing Old in America, 4th ed., edited by B. B. Hess and E. Markson. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
33.
Vinick, B. H.
and D. J. Ekerdt. 1991b. "Retirement: What Happens to Husband-Wife Relationships?"Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry24:23-40.
34.
Vinick, B. H.
, D. J. Ekerdt, and R. Bosse. 1985. "Does Life Satisfaction Measure Retirement Satisfaction?" Presented at the 38th annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, New Orleans.
35.
Wan, T.T.H.
and K. F. Ferraro. 1985. "Retirement Attitudes of Married Couples in Later Life." Pp. 75-88 in Well-Being of the Elderly, edited by T.T.H. Wan. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
