Impact of women's employment on family and marriage: A survey of literature

Abstract

The number of married women entering the work force has been on the rise in the last few decades with the result that dual-earner families have been on the rise. Studies of such families point to disturbances in the role functioning, leadership pattern, cohesion and communication dimensions of family functioning. Similarly, researchers have also found qualitative changes in the marital life of dual earner couples. High career commitment of spouses, high role segregation between spouses, lack of companionship activities, increased independence of women, status competition between spouses, lack of role complementarity, wife's occupational superiority, female work-role strain etc. have been implicated as important consequences. There are also a good number of studies that indicate the positive impact of women's employment on marriage.