COUPLED CAREERS - EFFECTS OF SPOUSES RESOURCES ON OCCUPATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE NETHERLANDS

Economic theory predicts a negative association between spouses' level s of occupational attainment due to gains from specialization between housework and paid work. Sociology typically stresses facilitating eff ects of network resources on occupational attainment. Spouses are netw ork members who may be able and willing to provide such resources. Acc ording to this argument, a positive association between spouses' level s of attainment is expected. Confronting these two alternative hypothe ses, questions on the effects of spouse's resources on occupational at tainment are addressed. We analyse the Dutch Family Survey 1992/93, a survey that covers the complete job histories of about 700 couples. Hy potheses on positive and negative effects of a spouse's resources on e mployment entry and exit and on job mobility are tested in an event-hi story analysis. The analysis shows that a spouse's financial resources hinder occupational attainment, while a spouse's human capital has fa cilitating effects, and therefore both economic and sociological theor ies are corroborated.