The vast majority of local-government managers are married to spouses who are employed outside the home, and one-fourth of these two-income couples are "dual career," meaning that both spouses are committed to lifelong professional development. A national survey shows that local-government managers from dual-career marriages are more likely than other managers to consider their spouses' employment potential when deciding whether, and where, to relocate. These results confirm other research showing that dual-career couples are often reluctant to be transferred or move to new jobs because it is difficult to accommodate the careers of both spouses. Public administrators need to consider these findings when designing recruitment and retention policies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, C. A.
, & Stark, C. (1988). Psychosocial problems of job relocation: Preventive roles in industry. Social Work (January-February), 38-41.
2.
Bailyn, L.
(1970). Career and family orientations of husbands and wives in relation to marital happiness. Human Relations, 23, 97-113.
3.
Bebbington, A. C.
(1973). The function of stress in the establishment of the dual career family. Journal of Marriage and the Family (August), 530-537.
4.
Bruce, W. M.
, & Reed, C. M. (1991). Dual career couples in the public sector. New York: Quorum Books.
5.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
. (1989). Handbook of Labor Statistics. Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
6.
Collie, H. C.
(1989). Two salaries, one relocation: What's a company to do?Personnel Administrator (September), 54-57.
7.
Conference Board
. (1985). Corporations and families: Changing practices and perspectives. New York: Conference Board.
8.
Crandall, L. A.
, Dwyer, J. W., & Duncan, R. P. (1990). Recruitment and retention of rural physicians: Issues for the 1990s. The Journal of Rural Health, 6 (1), 19-38.
9.
Driessnack, C. H.
(1987). Spouse relocation: A moving experience. Personnel Administrator (August), 95-102.
10.
Foxman, L. D.
, & Polsky, W. L. (1988). Spousal employment assistance. Personnel Journal (February), 36-38.
11.
Gilbert, L. A.
(1985). Men in dual career families: Current realities and future prospects. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
12.
Green, R. E.
, & Reed, B. J. (1988). Occupational stress and mobility among professional local government managers: A decade of change. The Municipal Yearbook. Washington: The International City Management Association.
13.
Green, R. E.
, & Reed B. J. (1989). Occupational stress among professional local government managers: Introspections and prognosis. International Journal of Public Administration, 12 (March), 265-303.
14.
Hardesty, S. A.
, & Betz, N. E. (1980). The relationships of career salience toward women and demographic and family characteristics to marital adjustment in dual career couples. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 17 (October), 242-250.
Hochschild, A.
(1989). The second shift. New York: Viking Books.
17.
Houseknecht, S. K.
, & Macke, A. (1981). Combining marriage and carrer: The marital adjustment of professional women. Journal of Marriage and the Family (August), 651-661.
18.
Hunt, J. G.
, & Hunt, L. L. (1982). Dual-career families: Vanguard of the future or residue of the past? In J. Aldous (Ed.), Two paychecks (pp. 41-59). Beverly Hills: Sage.
19.
International City Management Association
. (1991). Who's Who in local government management. Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
20.
Kopelman, R. E.
, Rosensweig, L., & Lally, L. H. (1982). Dual career couples: The organizational response. Personnel Administrator (September), 73-78.
21.
Mathews, P. A.
(1984). The changing workforce: Dual-career couples and relocation. Personnel Administrator (April), 55-62.
22.
Maynard, C. E.
, & Zawacki, R. A. (1979). Mobility and the dual-career couple. Personnel Journal (July), 468-472.
23.
McEnery, J. M.
, & Lifter, M. L. (1987). Demands for change: Interfacing environmental pressures and the personnel process. Public Personnel Management, 16 (Spring), 61-87.
24.
Orthner, D. K.
, & Pittman, J. F. (1986). Family contributions to work commitment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48 (August), 573-581.
25.
Pleck, J. H.
(1985). Working wives, working husbands. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
26.
Poloma, M. M.
, Pendleton, B. F., & Garland, T. N. (1981). Reconsidering the dual career marriage. Journal of Family Issues, 2 (June), 205-224.
27.
Reed, C. M.
(1988). Anti-nepotism rules and dual career couples: Policy questions for public personnel administrators. Public Personnel Management, 17 (Summer), 223-230.
28.
Reed, C. M.
, & Bruce, W. M. (1991). Dual-career couples in the public sector: A survey of personnel policies and practices. Public Personnel Management.
29.
Sekaran, U.
(1986). Dual-career families. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
30.
Shaklee, H.
(1989). Geographic mobility and the two-earner couple: Expected costs of a family move. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 19 (9), 728-743.
31.
Spain, D.
, & Nock, S. (1984). Two-career couples: A portrait. American Demographics (August), 25 ff.
32.
Stanley, S. C.
, Hunt, J. G. and Hunt, L. L. (1986). The relative deprivation of husbands in dual-earner households. Journal of Family Issues. 7 (March), 3-20.
33.
Teplitzky, M. L.
(1988). Dual Army career couples: Factors related to the career intentions of men and women. Alexandria, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute.
34.
Teplitzky, M. L.
(1991). Work-family conflict and the career decisions of married junior Army officers. Paper presented at the American Society of Public Administration annual conference.
35.
Thoits, R. A.
(1987). Negotiating roles. In F. J. Crosby (Ed.), Spouse, parent, worker: On gender and multiple roles. New Haven: Yale University Press.
36.
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board
. (1991). Balancing work responsibilities and family needs: The federal civil service response. Washington, DC: U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.
37.
Wood, F R. (1982). U.S. Air Force officers: Changing professional identity and commitment. Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston.
38.
Yogev, S.
(1986). Relationships between stress and marital satisfaction among dual earner couples. In D. Howard (Ed.), The dynamics of family therapy, (pp. 313-330). New York: Haworth Press.
