Is Husband's Class Enough? Class Location and Class Identity in the United States, Sweden, Norway, and Australia

Abstract

Class analysis traditionally has focused on the position of men in the occupational system: Women have been ignored completely or classified according to the status of the male head of household. This approach implies that women derive their class identities from the class locations of their husbands. However recent research suggests that this ''conventional '' view of class analysis is challenged by women's increasing independence from men. I address this issue using comparative data for the United States, Sweden, Norway, and Australia. I use a series of logistic regression models to examine the relationship between husband's and wife's class locations and subjective class identifications. Results indicate that husband's class location is a significant predictor of husband's and wife's class identifications. Education is also a key determinant of subjective class identity. There is no evidence of significant differences among countries in these patterns.