Time-dependent effects of wives' employment on marital dissolution

The specialization and trading model-the dominant theoretical perspective o n marital stability-posits a positive effect of wives' economic independenc e on the risk of divorce. Prior evidence for this association is mixed. how ever. This analysis explores the possibility that the effect of wives' labo r force supply and educational attainment on marital dissolution varies acr oss historical periods and across the marital life course. Event-history an alyses of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for 3,523 married co uples observed between 1969 and 1993 reveal that the impact of wives' emplo yment on marital dissolution has become increasingly positive. Moreover, as marriages age, the positive effect of wives 'employment on divorce becomes stronger and the negative impact of wives' education becomes weaker. Possi ble explanations for these varying effects include the development of insti tutional supports for unmarried working mothers, the increasing adoption of nontraditional gender-role ideologies, and trends in workplace sex segrega tion.