Child care use, earnings, and retention desires of wives of employees — U.S. Army officers' study

Abstract

The employment of both civilian and United States Army wives has been significant and growing. In this paper, we outline a theory of rational choice and a balanced satisfaction model to predict employment decisions made by couples in alternative employment settings. We hypothesize positive inter-relationships between the four criterion variables of earnings of wives of U.S. Army officers, their use of child care services, their satisfaction with Army life, and their desires for the Army's retention of their husbands. 1986 data for wives of U.S. Army officers from the Survey of Army Families ( N = 669) are used to estimate a system of four simultaneous equations. The results reveal that the four criteria are positively related to one another. In particular, the satisfaction-balance model was supported because an increase in a wife's earnings was positively associated with her satisfaction with Army life and her dissatisfaction with the cost of child care services was negatively related to her satisfaction with Army life. An increase in her satisfaction with Army life was positively associated with her desire for Army's retention of her husband.