Success at Work, Life Patterns, and Overall Life Satisfaction: Changes in the Lives of Men and Women since the 1980s in West-Germany

Abstract

Summary This paper focuses on the structural relationship between family building and upward mobility. Typically this relationship is analyzed for women only, while we include men as well. With new patterns of intimate partnerships and non-traditional families, on the one hand, and a changing labor market, on the other hand, new assertions about their connection have emerged. Using SOEP-data, the possible change in that relationship is investigated in two years, 1986 and 1996. In addition, the influence of success at work and the private life pattern on overall satisfaction with life is analyzed. As life patterns and labor market conditions have changed over time, researchers of family behavior and occupational and professional career development have advanced new assertions about the connection between intimate relationships and occupational mobility. For the most part, these new theories have only implicitly acknowledged the role that changes in life patterns and labor market have played in determining occupational and career choices. Demographically, more men and women remain childless and remain unmarried. From the perspective of career advancement, childless men and women are seen as being more flexible in their time management, as having better chances to continue their education, and as being more mobile geographically. For these reasons, it is commonly assumed that childless men and women are at an advantage in pursuing their occupational careers. However, little empirical evidence has been collected to see if these assumptions are borne out in individual experiences. This paper examines how career advancement and self-reported life satisfaction differ between married and unmarried individuals who choose to remain childless and those who have children. We focus on differences between men and women and over time in the association between life patterns, career advancement and life satisfaction. This study adds to the literature on family and occupational mobility research because we study men, as well as women. When men are studied, their work histories are typically assumed to be independent of intimate relationships — at least as far as occupational research and labor market theories are concerned. Consequently, few empirical studies consider the possible association between these two life domains for men. Some family theories, in particular those subsumed under the more general heading of family economics, provide at least an implicit theoretical framework.