The Work-Family Dilemma: A Study on the Family Time Investment and Marriage Quality
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Yang, Ya-Ting
Abstract
With the increasing emphasis on intimacy, the functions of marriage have gradually been transformed from an emphasis on biological and economic needs to an emphasis on affection and emotional support. Under the influence of this institutional change, marriage quality is increasingly determined by the spousal relationships. Based on Gary Becker’s conceptualization of marital-specific capital, this study uses a measurement of “time spent at home” to explore the relationship between family time investment and marriage quality. Furthermore, it also investigates two important determinants of the marriage quality, namely, assortative mating and household division of domestic labor. The effects of these two factors appeared to be moderated by family time investment. .
Using data taken from the Panel Study of Family Dynamics, this study uses OLS regression to assess several hypotheses related to family time investment. The results indicate that men who invest relatively more time at home than their spouse are more likely to feel dissatisfied with their spouse. Furthermore, the negative relationship between relative time investment and marriage quality is amplified when the husband’s educational level is lower than his spouse. However, the result is opposite for the female, showing a gender asymmetry. Not only household division of domestic labor and assortative mating have direct main effects on marriage quality, the effects are moderated by family time investment. More specifically, unequal housework division of labor is particularly likely to lead to negative feeling when the spouse is always absent. These results suggest that family time investment is an important determinant and a moderator of marriage quality.
Subjects
family time investment
assortative mating
division of household labor
marital quality
Type
thesis
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