How Does Wives' Unemployment Affect Marriage in Reforming Urban China

Bibliographic Data

ID2969040
AuthorsXiaohe Hu (0000-0003-1487-2419, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circl e, San Antonio, TX 78249 USA.), Xuhui Zeng (Mississippi State University), Li Zheng (0009-0009-1742-8410, Mississippi State University), Zheng Li (0000-0002-7537-2509, Mississippi State University), Christy Flatt (Mississippi State University)
Year2010
Volume41
Issue5
Pages717-734
Publication date2010-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Comparative Family Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2328 • E-ISSN: 1929-9850
PublisherUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3138/jcfs.41.5.717
OpenAlexW2599896977
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited24

This cross-cultural study explores the relationship between wives' unemployment and marital quality in reforming urban China. Using random survey data from Chengdu (N = 300), we estimate the effects of wives' unemployment, changing marital dynamics, and spousal responses to the wife's unemployment on marital affection and marital tension. Under the guidance of an integrated theoretical framework, our ordered logistic and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression results show that the wives' unemployment and subsequent economic hardship, the deteriorated mother-child relationship, the husbands' negative responses, and the wives' symptoms of psychological distress have deleterious effects on urban Chinese marriages. Moreover, our ancillary analyses indicate that the wives' unemployment is indirectly associated with marital affection through the husband's negative responses to the wife's unemployment. This result suggests that from the husband's perspective the wife's economic contributions and co-breadwinner role are vitally important for urban Chinese marriages. We conclude that as anticipated the wife's unemployment is indeed negatively associated with marital quality in reforming urban China

Affect (linguistics) · Affection · China · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Ordinary least squares · Political science · Unemployment · Wife · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology · Social Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges

Tools

Open DOI