Marriage and Masculinity: Male-Breadwinner Culture, Unemployment, and Separation Risk in 29 Countries

"Good fathers": Community perceptions of idealized fatherhood and reported fathering behaviors in Mwanza, Tanzania

Globally, perceptions of idealized fatherhood have been expanding beyond men's breadwinning roles to also value men's engagement in nurturing care. While fathers' caregiving behaviors are increasing, most childcare activities are still largely performed by mothers. In this study, we unpacked community members' beliefs about the meaning of "good fathers" and explored the degree to which these values aligned with the main caregiving behaviors reported about fathers with young children under age 2 years in Mwanza, Tanzania. Qualitative data were collected as part of a broader formative research study for which we conducted in-depth interviews with 29 fathers, 23 mothers, 4 village leaders and 4 community health workers as well as 3 focus group discussions with fathers, 2 with mothers, and 6 with both fathers and mothers combined. For this secondary data analysis, we used a grounded theory approach combined with thematic content analysis to investigate the nature of fatherhood. We discovered four key ideals associated with "good fathers": fathers as providers, nurturers, supportive partners, and authoritarians. The primary ideal of fathers as breadwinners was strongly aligned with the main reported practice of fathers trying hard to financially providing for their families. However, paternal behaviors reflecting ideals of fathers as nurturers and supportive partners were less practiced. Although ideals towards good fathers as authoritarian were least explicitly valued, many fathers were reported as engaging in controlling behaviors and using violence. The links between fatherhood ideals and behaviors was influenced by various factors, including poverty, men's limited time availability at home, and restrictive gender norms. Overall, our results reveal some alignment but also inconsistencies between the ideal version of fatherhood and commonly reported paternal practices. These discrepancies highlight the need for further investigation into the underlying factors that both enable and constrain the links between fatherhood ideals and behaviors. Our study results have important implications for the design of interventions that seek to enhance fatherhood to improve the development and wellbeing of children and families.

Income, aging, and the gendered patterns of wellness: Physical health and subjective well-being in China

This article investigates the impact of demographic and socioeconomic inequalities on wellness, composed of both physical health and subjective well-being. We examine how gender inequality moderates the joint effects of aging and income on wellness in China. Utilizing generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), we analyze data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) spanning from 2003 to 2021. Our results reveal that income inequality disproportionately affects physical health among older, underweight, lower-class females; males are more susceptible to negative impacts on subjective well-being, particularly among lower-class, middle-aged males. These gendered patterns are situated in the contemporary Chinese society and are explained in relation to intra-household distributional inequality and the gender role expectations in the Confucian culture. We also discussed the policy implications of how to reduce the gaps in wellness across social classes, age cohorts, and genders.

Are Female-Breadwinner Couples Always Less Stable? Evidence from French Administrative Data

The paper studies the association between partners' relative incomes and union dissolution among couples in France. With the increase in dual-earner couples and women's educational level, couples in which women earn more than their partners are structurally becoming more widespread. Because female breadwinning challenges long-lived social norms regarding traditional gender roles, scholars have theorized a higher risk of union dissolution among female-breadwinner couples compared to couples in other income arrangements. We estimate the risk of union dissolution using regression analyses on unique longitudinal data from French administrative sources containing an unconventionally high number of couples (4% of the population) and separation events (more than 100,000), as well as precise and reliable income measurement. Female-breadwinner couples face a higher risk of union dissolution compared to other couple types. This result is robust to various definitions of female breadwinning and controls for partners' employment status. Contrary to recent research on other countries, we find no sign of a fading effect among younger cohorts. However, among younger, cohabiting couples and couples in registered partnerships the risk of union dissolution is lowest when both partners are employed and provide a similar share of the total couple's income, suggesting the emergence of a new profile of stable couples. The female-breadwinner penalty in union dissolution is in place; also in France, it holds among married and cohabiting couples and registered partnerships, across all birth cohorts and levels of household income.

Partner's unemployment and subjective well-being: The mediating role of relationship functioning

Unemployment affects not only the subjective well-being of the individual, but also that of the partner. Based on the life course perspective and the spillover-crossover-model, we examine the mediating role of relationship functioning for such crossover effects of partner's unemployment on subjective well-being. We also test whether gender differences in the mechanism of relationship functioning can explain the larger overall crossover effects on women compared to men. We use data from the German Family Panel pairfam (2008/09-2018/19), which provide more direct and comprehensive measures of relationship functioning than previous research, and allow us to examine couples' communication and interactions, their conflict styles and behaviors, relationship satisfaction, and perceived relationship instability as mediators. To analyze the impact of the partner's transition to unemployment on subjective well-being, we use fixed effects panel regression models and the product method of mediation analysis to estimate the indirect effects of relationship functioning. The results show that a partner's transition to unemployment has a negative impact on one's own well-being. The effects are more pronounced for women than men which can be partly explained by gender-specific effects of the partner's unemployment on various aspects of relationship functioning, rather than by differential effects of the latter on one's own well-being.

Cohabiting couple's economic organization and marriage patterns across social classes

Objective

Empirically examine whether different economic theories of marriage formation predict the transition from cohabitation to marriage differently across social classes.

Background

Less-educated individuals marry their cohabiting partners at lower rates than their college-educated peers, but the reasons for this are unknown. Few studies have examined the intersection of social class and couple-level economic resources to understand if the potentially gendered economic determinants of marriage vary according to a couple's social location.

Method

Couple-month data come from the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation, including 1,879 cohabiting couples, 478 of whom transition to marriage. Logistic regression is used to test whether the marriage bar, gender specialization, gendered institutions, or gender revolution framework best predicts the likelihood of marrying.

Results

Joint indicators of the marriage bar and the gendered economic organization of couples both predict marriage, but the specific gendered organization varies by the couple's level of education. Among couples where neither partner has a college degree, male-breadwinning couples are most likely to marry; dual-earning couples are most likely to marry among more-educated couples.

Conclusion

Although college-educated couples seem to have shifted to a more egalitarian model of marriage, as predicted by the gender revolution framework, the marriages of the less-educated are still characterized by traditional arrangements, in line with the idea that marriage is a gendered institution. By showing that different theories predict marriage depending on the couple's social position, these findings provide groundwork to explore why the less educated are increasingly less likely to marry their cohabiting partners.

Health-related exit from employment before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: Analysis of population-wide register data 2013-2021

People with health problems experience various labor market disadvantages, such as hiring discrimination and heightened risk of firing, but the impact of deteriorating economic conditions on health-related labor market mobility remains poorly understood. The strength of the downturn/crisis will most likely make a difference. During minor downturns, when few employees are made redundant, health-related exit may occur frequently since employers prefer to keep those with good health on the payroll. However, during major economic crises, when large-scale downsizing and firm closures abound, there will be less discretionary room for employers. Thus, some mechanisms that usually are damaging for people with health problems (e.g., seniority rules and negative connotations), can be neutralized, ultimately leading to smaller health differentials in labor market outcomes. The current study used population-wide administrative register data, covering the years 2013-2021, to examine health-related exit from employment (to unemployment/social assistance) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. The pandemic spurred a major crisis on the Norwegian labor market and led to a record-high unemployment rate of 10.6 percent in March 2020. Restricting the analytical samples to labor market insiders, linear probability models showed that previous recipients of health-related benefits had a higher unemployment likelihood in the pre-crisis year 2019. The relative importance of poor health changed non-negligibly, however, during the COVID-19 pandemic. When identical statistical analyses were run on the crisis year 2020, health-related exit from employment was dampened. Yet, this labor market equalization was not followed by smaller health differentials in work income in 2021, mainly because people with good health retained or regained decent-paying jobs when the economic conditions improved again. In conclusion, major economic crises can lead to an equalization of labor market disadvantages for people with health problems, but health-related inequalities may reemerge when the economy recovers.

Which Came First, the Money or the Sex? Bidirectional, Indirect Associations between Financial Management Behaviors and Sexual Satisfaction among Newlywed Couples

Scholars have established connections between how married couples navigate their finances and their sexual relationship. For example, financial management behaviors are associated with sexual satisfaction among newlywed couples. However, we know very little about the direction of the association between financial management behaviors and sexual satisfaction. Understanding which might predict the other, or if there might be a bidirectional association between the two, could provide information on where to intervene to help newlywed couples with financial or sexual obstacles in their marriage. With three waves of dyadic data (N = 1,205 U.S. newlywed couples), we used structural equation modeling to examine the bidirectional, indirect associations between husbands' and wives' financial management behaviors and their own sexual satisfaction through their own marital satisfaction. Overall, we found that financial management behaviors indirectly predicted changes in sexual satisfaction through marital satisfaction for both husbands and wives. We also found limited evidence that husbands' sexual satisfaction indirectly predicted changes in their own financial management behaviors through their own marital satisfaction. Additionally, these indirect associations differed by gender. Partner effects, however, were largely non-significant. Implications of these findings for those who help newlywed couples with their sexual relationships are discussed.

Doubly disadvantaged: Unemployment, young age, and electoral participation in the United Kingdom

Previous studies examine how unemployment affects socio-political behaviour, but this literature has scarcely focused on the role of the life-course. Integrating the frameworks of unemployment scarring and political socialisation, we posit that unemployment experiences, or scars, undermine electoral participation, and that this is exacerbated at younger ages. We test these hypotheses relying on the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society datasets (1991-2020), employing panel data analysis approaches as Propensity Score Matching, Individual Fixed Effects, and Individual Fixed Effects with Individual Slopes. Results suggest that unemployment experiences depress electoral participation in the UK, with effect sizes around -5% of a Standard Deviation in turnout. However, this effect varies powerfully by age: the impact of unemployment on electoral participation is stronger at younger ages (-21% SD at age 20), and weaker to not significant after age 35. This is robust across the three main approaches and several robustness checks. Further analyses show that the first unemployment spell matters the most for electoral participation, and that for individuals under 35, there is a scar effect lasting up to 5 years after the first unemployment spell. The life-course emerges as central to better understand the relationship between labour market hardships and socio-political behaviour.

[Working poverty and self-rated health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a comparative study over time using 1995-2021 Socioeconomic Panel data]

BACKGROUND

The working poor are considered a vulnerable group. This study examines whether health disparities between working-poor and non-working-poor workers have worsened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by comparing them over time with earlier periods of economic crisis and social and labor market policy reform.

METHODS

The analyses are based on the Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP, 1995-2020) and the Special Survey on Socioeconomic Factors and Consequences of the Spread of Coronavirus in Germany (SOEP-CoV, 2020-2021). All employed persons aged 18-67 years were considered for the analyses to calculate the risks of poor subjective health due to working poverty using pooled logistic regression by sex.

RESULTS

Subjective health improved during the COVID-19 pandemic. Differences in health between the working poor and those who were not working poor remained relatively constant between 1995 and 2021. Individuals who were more likely to be in working poverty over time had the highest risk of inadequate health. The health disparities associated with the frequency of working poverty increased over time and peaked for both sexes in the pandemic. Significant sex differences were not identified.

DISCUSSION

This study illustrates the social embeddedness of working poverty as a determinant of poor health. In particular, those who were more likely to experience working poverty during their working lives are considered to be particularly vulnerable to inadequate health. Tendentially, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to reinforce this gradient in health.

Disentangling the multigenerational transmissions of socioeconomic disadvantages and mental health problems by gender and across lineages: Findings from the Stockholm Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study

There is a paucity of research examining the patterning of socioeconomic disadvantages and mental health problems across multiple generations. The current study therefore aimed to investigate the interconnected transmissions of socioeconomic disadvantages and mental health problems from grandparents to grandchildren through the parents, as well as the extent to which these transmissions differ according to lineage (i.e., through matrilineal/patrilineal descent) and grandchild gender. Drawing on the Stockholm Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study, the sample included 21,416 unique lineages by grandchild gender centered around cohort members born in 1953 (parental generation) as well as their children (grandchild generation) and their parents (grandparental generation). Based on local and national register data, socioeconomic disadvantages were operationalized as low income, and mental health problems as psychiatric disorders. A series of path models based on structural equation modelling were applied to estimate the associations between low income and psychiatric disorders across generations and for each lineage-gender combination. We found a multigenerational transmission of low income through the patriline to grandchildren. Psychiatric disorders were transmitted through both the patriline and matriline, but only to grandsons. The patriline-grandson transmission of psychiatric disorder partially operated via low income of the fathers. Furthermore, grandparents' psychiatric disorders influenced their children's and grandchildren's income. We conclude that there is evidence of transmissions of socioeconomic disadvantages and mental health problems across three generations, although these transmissions differ by lineage and grandchild gender. Our findings further highlight that grandparents' mental health problems could cast a long shadow on their children's and grandchildren's socioeconomic outcomes, and that socioeconomic disadvantages in the intermediate generation may play an important role for the multigenerational transmission of mental health problems.

Weathering the storm together: Does unemployment insurance help couples avoid divorce?

This study examines whether unemployment insurance benefit generosity impacts divorce, drawing on full population administrative data and a Swiss reform that reduced unemployment insurance maximum benefit duration. We assess the effect of the reform by comparing the pre- to the post-reform change in divorce rates among unemployed individuals who were affected by the reform with the change in divorce rates among a statistically balanced group of unemployed individuals who was not affected by the reform. Difference-in-differences estimates suggest that the reform caused a 2.8 percentage point increase in divorce (a 25% increase). Effects were concentrated among low-income couples (+58%) and couples with an unemployed husband (+32%) though gender differences are attributable to men's breadwinner status. Female main breadwinners were more strongly affected (+78%) than male main breadwinners (+40%). Results confirm the 'family stress model' which posits that job search and financial stress cause marital conflict. Policymakers should consider a broad array of impacts, including divorce, when considering reductions in unemployment insurance generosity.

What shapes attitudes on gender roles among adolescents in Bangladesh

Background

In Bangladesh, large gender differentials exist in outcomes in almost all spheres of life, stemming from conservative norms and attitudes around gender. Adolescence is a crucial period for social-emotional learning that can shape gender norms and attitudes.

Objective

The aim of the paper is to investigate the extent to which adolescents hold egalitarian attitudes toward gender roles, and to examine the factors that influence egalitarian gender attitudes.

Methods

The paper uses data from a nationally representative sample survey of 7,800 unmarried girls and 5,523 unmarried boys ages 15–19 years. Adolescents were considered to have egalitarian attitudes on gender role if they disagreed with all the following four unequal gender role statements with regards to socio-economic participation, while respondents who agreed with any one of the four statements were considered to have non-egalitarian attitudes: (1) It is important that sons have more education than daughters, (2) Outdoor games are only for boys, not girls, (3) Household chores are for women only, not for men, even if the woman works outside the home, and (4) Women should not be allowed to work outside the home. Multivariable linear probability regression analysis was implemented to identify the factors shaping attitudes on gender roles.

Results

Unmarried girls and boys differ hugely in their views on gender roles regarding socio economic participation-girls were much more egalitarian than boys (58 vs. 19%). The multivariate linear probability model results show girls and boys who completed at least grade 10 were 31% points and 15% points more likely to have egalitarian views on gender roles respectively, compared to girls and boys with primary or less education. Having strong connection with parents is associated with having egalitarian views on gender roles among girls but not boys. Adolescents' individual attitude on gender role is highly associated with the views of their community peers for both girls and boys. Girls and boys who had participated in adolescent programs were 6–7% points more likely to have egalitarian attitude than those who were not exposed to these programs. Egalitarian views were also significantly higher, by 5% points among girls and 6% points among boys, who were members of social organizations compared to those who were not. Watching television had positive influence on egalitarian attitudes among girls but not among boys. To create a more egalitarian society, both men and women need to hold progressive attitudes toward gender roles. The interventions must be multilevel, influencing adolescents at the personal, interpersonal, communal, and societal levels.

Racial/Ethnic Variation in the Relationship Between Educational Assortative Mating and Wives' Income Trajectories

Prior work has examined the relationship between educational assortative mating and wives' labor market participation but has not assessed how this relationship varies by race/ethnicity. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we estimate group-based developmental trajectories to investigate whether the association between educational assortative mating and wives' income trajectories varies by race/ethnicity. The presence, prevalence, and shapes of prototypical long-term income trajectories vary markedly across racial/ethnic groups. Whites are more likely than Blacks and Hispanics to follow income trajectories consistent with a traditional gender division of labor. The association between educational assortative mating is also stronger for Whites than for Blacks and Hispanics. White wives in educationally hypogamous unions make the greatest contribution to the couple's total income, followed by those in homogamous and hypergamous unions. Black and Hispanic wives in hypogamous unions are less likely than their peers in other unions to be secondary earners. These findings underscore the need for studies of the consequences of educational assortative mating to pay closer attention to heterogeneity across and within racial/ethnic groups.

Basic Psychological Needs and Agency and Communion During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract. Despite the conceptual proximity between the basic needs and agency and communion and their similar function for psychological functioning, studies investigating their interplay are scarce. This study aims to investigate their joint role in hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-reports were collected from 13,313 adolescents (Sample 1) and 1,707 young adults (Sample 2) from Austria. The results show the importance of both agency and communion for the fulfillment of different basic needs and their role in well-being, with a universal interaction effect between communion and perceived competence on intrinsic motivation (eudaimonic aspect) in both gender groups in adolescence, as well as on positive emotions (hedonic aspect) among young women. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

"Appreciate the Little Things": A Qualitative Survey of Men's Coping Strategies and Mental Health Impacts During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a suite of circumstances that will simultaneously affect mental health and mobilize coping strategies in response. Building on a lack of research specifically exploring men's mental health impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study presents the results of a qualitative survey exploring men's self-reported aspects of the pandemic giving rise to mental health challenges, alongside their diverse coping strategies applied during this time. The sample comprised 555 men from North America (age M = 38.8 years; SD = 13.5 years), who participated via an online survey with two open-ended qualitative questions assessing, respectively, the aspects of the pandemic affecting their mental health, and the strategies used to manage these challenges. Free-text responses were coded using inductive content analysis. Results pertaining to the mental health impacts of COVID-19 were categorized into two overarching themes: far-reaching ramifications of COVID-19 encompassing consequences for lifestyle, work, and functioning, alongside novel anxieties related to health risks and daily uncertainty. In addition, coping strategies reported were categorized into two broad themes: efforts to avoid, dull or distract oneself from distress, alongside adapting and doing things differently, which encompassed largely approach-oriented efforts to flexibly ameliorate distress. Results signal the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19, alongside profound flexibility and diverse enactments of resilience among men in adapting to unprecedented challenges. Findings have implications for mental health promotion that should aim to leverage men's adaptive coping to encourage opportunities for social connectedness in response to the mental health impacts of the various psychosocial challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Felt deficits in time with children: Individual and contextual factors across 27 European countries

A sizeable portion of parents say they lack time with children-an important social problem given that time strains link to parental well-being. Extending perspectives on the demands and rewards of parenting beyond the individual level, we provide a contextual-level window onto mothers' and fathers' time strains. Based on data from the European Quality of Life Survey 2016/17 (n = 5,898), we analyze whether parents feel they spend enough time caring for their children using multilevel models. We first observe that country context matters in that perceptions of time only moderately or weakly relate to hours with children across countries, especially for fathers, suggesting varying social expectations across Europe. Second, in multivariate analyses examining micro- and macro-level factors, we show that at the individual level, feeling too little time with children is more frequent among fathers and those who work more hours, even when controlling for estimated weekly hours spent caring for children. At the country level, parents' time strain is higher in countries where employees have less time and place flexibility, typically in Central and Eastern as well as Southern Europe. Gender norms matter as well. Extending contextual perspectives, we argue that how gender-work-family regimes color felt time strain is a promising future research direction.