Who is happier: The housewife or working wife?

Beja Jr., Edsel (2012): Who is happier: The housewife or working wife?

Abstract

The earlier studies that came out around the 1970s, as more and more women started to leave the homes, so to speak, and took paid work found no statistically significant difference in the happiness between the housewife and the working wife. This paper revisits the same issue using data from the 2000s but refining the focus of the analysis, namely: paid work is differentiated into full-time, part-time, or self-employment. The findings are still consistent with the earlier studies. What the paper finds more interesting, however, is that a disparity in the happiness between the housewife and the working wife is perhaps more because of idiosyncrasies shaped by culture and social context but less about the paid work status itself.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Happiness; life satisfaction; housewife; working wife
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I31 - General Welfare, Well-Being; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J10 - General; D - Microeconomics > D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics > D10 - General; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches > B54 - Feminist Economics

References

Abache, J., Kolev, A., and Filipiak, E. (2010). Gender disparities in Africa’s labor market, Washington, D.C.: World Bank

Akerlof, G. and Kranton, R. (2010). Identity economics, Princeton: Princeton University Press

Alesina, A., Di Tella, R., and MacCulloch, R. (2004). “Inequality and happiness: Are Europeans and Americans different?,” Journal of Public Economics, 88(9-10): 2009-2042

Andrews, F. and Withey, S. (1976). Social indicators of well-being: America’s perception of life quality, New York: Plenum

Argyle, M. and Furnham, A. (1983). “Sources of satisfaction and conflict in long-term relation-ships,” Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45(3): 481-493

Becker, G. (1965). “A theory of the allocation of time,” Economic Journal, 75(229): 493-517

Benin, M. and Nienstedt, B. (1985). “Happiness in single- and dual-earner families: The effects of marital happiness, job satisfaction, and life cycle,” Journal of Marriage and Family, 47(4): 975-984

Black, S. and Hill, C. (1984). “The psychological well-being of women in their middle years,” Psychology of Women Quarterly, 8(3): 282-292

Blanchflower, D. and Oswald, A. (1998). “What makes an entrepreneur,” Journal of Labor Economics, 16(1): 26-60

Blanchflower, D. and Oswald, A. (2008). “Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle?,” Social Science and Medicine, 66(6): 1733-1749

Booth, A. and van Ours, J. (2008). “Job satisfaction and family happiness: the part-time work puzzle,” Economic Journal, 118(526), F77-F99

Booth, A. and van Ours, J. (2009). “Hours of work and gender identity: Does part-time work make the family happier?,” Economica, 76(301): 176-196

Booth, A. and van Ours, J. (2010). “Part-time jobs: What women want?,” Discussion Paper No. 4686, Institute for the Study of Labor

Campbell, A., Converse, P., and Rogers, W. (1976). The quality of American life, New York: Sage Publications

Chen, J.-M. and Lin, P. (1992). “Daily life demands, social support, life satisfaction, and health of working women and housewives,” Proceedings of the National Science Council, ROC: Part2, 2(1): 119-127

Clark, A. (1997). “Job satisfaction and gender: Why are women so happy at work?,” Labour Economics, 4(4): 341-372

Clark, A., Diener, E., Georgellis, Y., and Lucas, R. (2008). “Lags and leads in life satisfaction: A test of the baseline hypothesis,” Economic Journal, 118(529): F222-F243

Costa, P. and McCrae, R. (1988). “Personality in adulthood: A six-year longitudinal study of self-reports and spouse ratings on the NEO personality inventory,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(4): 853-863

Davidson, R. (2003). “Affective neuroscience and psychophysiology: Toward a synthesis,” Psychophysiology, 40(5), 655-665

Di Tella, R., MacCulloch, R., and Oswald, A. (2001). “Preferences of inflation and unemployment: Evidence from surveys of happiness,” American Economic Review, 91(1): 335-341

Diener, E. and Larsen, R. (1984). “Temporal stability and cross-situational consistency of affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses,” Journal of Personal and Social Psychology, 47(4): 580-592

Diener, E. and Suh, E. (2000). Culture and subjective well-being, Cambridge: MIT Press

Diener, E., Lucas, R., Schimmack, U., and Helliwell, J. (2009). Well-being for public policy, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Diener, E., Suh, E., Lucas, R., and Smith, H. (1999). “Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress,” Psychological Bulletin, 125(2): 276-302

Easterlin, R. (2010). Happiness, growth, and the life cycle, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Eid, M. and Larsen, R. (2008). The science of subjective well-being, New York: Guilford Press

Ekman, P., Davidson, R., and Friesen, W., (1990). “The Duchenne smile: Emotional expression and brain physiology II,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(2): 342-353

Ehrhardt, J., Saris, W., and Veenhoven, R. (2000). “Stability of life satisfaction over time: Analysis of change in ranks in a national population,” Journal of Happiness Studies, 1(2): 177-205

Emmons, R. and Diener, E. (1985). “Factors predicting satisfaction judgments: A comparative examination,” Social Indicators Research, 16(2): 157-167

Feeney, J. (1994). “Attachment styles, communication patterns, and satisfaction across the life cycle of marriage,” Personal Relationships, 1(4): 333-348

Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A. and Frijters, P. (2004). “How important is methodology for the estimates of the determinants of happiness,” Economic Journal, 114(479): 641-659

Ferree, M. (1976). “Working-class jobs: Housework and paid work as sources of satisfaction,” Social Problems, 23(4): 431-441

Ferree, M. (1984). “Class, housework, and happiness: Women’s work and life satisfaction,” Sex Roles, 11(11-12): 1057-1074

Folbre, N. (1982). “Exploitation comes home: A critique of the Marxian theory of family labor,” Cambridge Journal of Economics, 6(4): 317-329

Fowler, J. and Christakis, N. (2008). “Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: Longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham heart study,” British Medical Journal, 337(42): 23-27

Freudiger, P. (1983). “Life satisfaction among three categories of married women,” Journal of Marriage and Family, 45(1): 213-219

Frey, B. and Stutzer, A. (2000). “Happiness, economy, and institutions,” Economic Journal, 110(466): 918-938

Frey, B., Stutzer, A., and Luechinger, S. (2010). “Life satisfaction approach to environmental valuation,” Annual Review of Resource Economics, 2(1): 139-160

Gilovich, T., Griffin, D., and Kahneman, D. (2002). Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive judgment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Glenn, N. and Weaver, C. (1979). “A multivariate multisurvey survey of marital happiness,” Journal of Marriage and the Family, 40(2): 269-282

Granrose, C. (1984). “A Fishbein-Ajzen model of intention to work following childbirth,” Journal of Vocational Behavior, 25(3): 359-372

Granrose, C. and Kaplan, E. (2006). “Returning to work after childbirth: The relationship between intentions and behavior,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24(10): 873-896

Gupta, U. and Singh, P. (1982). “Exploratory study of love and liking and types of marriage,” Indian Journal of Applied Psychology, 19(2): 92-97

Hamilton, B. (2000). “Does entrepreneurship pay? An empirical analysis of returns to self-employment,” Journal of Political Economy, 108(3): 604-632

Haas, B., Steiber, N., Hartel, M., and Wallace, C. (2006). “Household employment patterns in an enlarged European Union,” Work, Employment, and Society, 20(4): 751-771

Hundley, G. (2001). “Why and when are the self-employed more satisfied with their work,” Industrial Relations, 40(2): 293-317

Inglehart, R., Foa, R., Peterson, C., and Welzel, C. (2008). “Development, freedom, and rising happiness,” Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(4): 264-285

Inter-American Development Bank [IDB] (2008). Beyond facts: Understanding quality of life, Cambridge: David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies and Harvard University Press

International Labor Organization [ILO] and Asian Development Bank [ADB] (2011). Women and labor markets in Asia: Rebalancing for gender equity, Bangkok: ILO-ADB

Kahneman, D. and Krueger, A. (2006). “Developments in the measurement of subjective well-being,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1): 3-24

Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A. (1979). “Prospect theory: An analysis of decisions under risk,” Econometrica, 47(2): 263-291

Kahneman, D., Diener, E., and Schwarz, N. (1999). Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology, New York: Russell Sage Foundation

Kahneman, D., Slovic, P., and Tversky, A. (1982). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Kahneman, D., Wakker, P., and Sarin R. (1997). “Back to Bentham? Explorations on experienced utility,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(2): 375-405

Krueger, A. (2009). Measuring the subjective well-being of nations, Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Krueger, A. and Schkade, D. (2008). “The reliability of subjective well-being measures,” Journal of Public Economics, 92(8-9): 1833-1845

Larsen, R. and Fredrickson, B. (1999). “Measurement issues in emotional research,” in D. Kahneman, E. Diener, and N. Schwarz (ed.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 40-60), New York: Sage Publications

Lucas, R. (2005). “Time does not heal all wounds: A longitudinal study of reaction and adaptation to divorce,” Psychological Science, 16(12): 945-950

Lucas, R. and Clark, A. (2006). “Do people really adapt to marriage?” Journal of Happiness Studies, 7(4): 405-426

Lucas, R., Clark, A., Georgellis, Y., and Diener, E. (2003). “Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness: Reactions to changes in marital status,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(3): 527-539

Maddala, G. (1983). Limited dependent and quantitative variables in econometrics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Michalos, M. (1985). “Multiple discrepancies theory,” Social Indicators Research, 16(4): 347-413

Mincer, J. (1962). “Labor force participation of married women: A study of labor supply,” in H. Lewis (ed.), Aspects of labor economics (pp. 63-106), Princeton: Princeton University Press

Nathawat, S. and Mathur, A. (1992). “Marital adjustment and subjective well-being in Indian-educated housewives and working women,” Journal of Psychology, 127(3): 353-358

Ng, Y.-K. (1996). “Happiness surveys: Some comparability issues and an exploratory survey based on just perceivable increments,” Social Indicators Research, 38(1): 1-27

Ng, Y.-K. (1997). “A case for happiness, cardinalism, and interpersonal comparability,” Economic Journal, 107(445): 1848-1858

Plutzer, E. (1988). “Work life, family life, and women’s support for feminism,” American Sociological Review, 53(4): 640-649

Raup, J. and Meyers, J. (1989). “The empty-nest syndrome: Myth or reality?” Journal of Counseling & Development, 60(2): 180-183

Robinson, J. Shaver, P. and Wrightsman, L. (1999), Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes (pp. 61-114), San Diego: Academic Press

Rollins, B. and Cannon, R. (1974). “Marital satisfaction over the family life cycle,” Journal of Marriage and the Family, 36(2): 271-282

Sandvik, E., Diener, E., and Seidlitz, L. (1993). “Subjective well-being: The convergence and stability of self-report and non-self-report measures,” Journal of Personality, 61(3): 317-342

Schimmack, U. and Oishi, S. (2005). “The influence of chronically and temporarily accessible information on life satisfaction judgments,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(3): 395-406

Sen, A. (1990). “Gender and comparative conflicts,” in I. Tinker (ed.), Persistent inequalities: Women and world development (pp. 195-223), Oxford: Oxford University Press

Stevens, S. (1946). “On the theory of scales of measurement,” Science, 103(2684): 677-680

Stevenson, B. and Wolfers, J. (2009). “The paradox of declining female happiness,” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 1(2): 190-225

Stokes, J. and Peyton, J. (1986). “Attitudinal differences between full-time homemakers and women who work outside the home,” Sex Roles, 15(5-6): 299-310

Stutzer, A. and Frey, B. (2006). “Does marriage make people happy, or do happy people get married?,” Journal of Socio-Economics, 35(2), 326-347

Thaler, R. (1980). “Toward a positive theory of consumer choice,” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 1(1): 39-60

Thaler, R. (1985). “Mental accounting and consumer choice,” Marketing Science, 4(3): 199-214

Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D. (1981). “The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice,” Science, 211(4481): 453–58

van Praag, B. and Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A. (2004). Happiness quantified: A satisfaction calculus approach, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Veenhoven, R. (1994). Correlates of happiness, Rotterdam: Erasmus University of Rotterdam

Walker, C. (1977). “Some variations in marital satisfaction,” in R. Chester and J. Peel (ed.), Equalities and inequalities in family life (pp. 127-139), London: Academic Press

World Bank (2004). Gender and development in the Middle East and North Africa, Washington, D.C.: World Bank

Wright, J. (1978). “Are working women really more satisfied? Evidence from several national surveys,” Journal of Marriage and Family, 40(2): 301-313