Long-Term Trends in Short-Term Processes: Couples’ Adjustments in Labor Market Activities Following Parenthood and Job Loss, 1990-2010

Kelly Musick, Cornell University
John R. Warren, University of Minnesota
Sean Buuck, University of Minnesota

Women’s roles outside the home have changed dramatically over the past four decades, with wives’ financial contributions now a common—arguably expected—component of the marriage bargain. Descriptive studies have mapped trends in women’s work, earnings, and family formation over time, but by and large the literature to date has not assessed long-term trends in the ways in which couples adjust their work and family responsibilities within partnerships. This paper capitalizes on newly available, successive, short-run panels from 1990-2010 (ultimately 1976-2012) to examine joint changes in men’s and women’s work and earnings following the transition to parenthood and job loss, shedding light on the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between labor market experiences and family transitions. Couple-level changes around these events provide windows into understanding how men’s and women’s economic roles in the family have adapted in concert with transformations in the meaning of marriage, gender ideologies, labor market opportunities, and work-family constraints.