Does Female Employment Always Undermine Marriage? Working Wives and Family Stability in Different Contexts of Italian Society

Abstract

Previous research has shown that the association between female employment and risk of marital disruption is still far from clear-cut, partly because certain theoretical and empirical evidence indicates that it may vary according to different conditions. The purpose of this study is to reassess the association between female employment and marital stability in Italy, by viewing it as contingent on historical period, institutional and cultural context and wives’ gender ideology. The relative risk of marital disruption is estimated using discrete time event-history models. The empirical findings clearly show that wives’ employment in this country seems to be disruptive for marriages, and its effect remains constant across the different conditions tested in the analysis.