Publication Date

2013

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Department

School for Social Work

Keywords

Mexican Americans-Employment, Dual-career families, Married people-Employment, Married people-Psychology, Work and family, Dua -earner couples, Earner status, Mexican-American, Marital satisfaction

Abstract

This study sought to fill gaps in literature by exploring similarities and differences in marital satisfaction and division of family tasks between Caucasian and Mexican-American dualearner and single-earner couples. The subsample included in the analysis was a subset from the Supporting Father Involvement study based in California. Participants were 522 couples, with two-thirds Mexican-American and approximately one fourth Caucasian. The study examined the following four questions: (1) How are race/ethnicity and couple's earner status associated with marital satisfaction? (2) Does the SFI intervention affect couple satisfaction differently for distinct racial/ethnic and earner groups? (3) How are race/ethnicity and couple's earner status associated with the division of family tasks? (4) Are there differences between dual-earner Mexican-Americans and comparison groups in the division of family tasks? The findings indicated that earner status was associated with marital satisfaction and that Mexican-American dual-earning couples' marital satisfaction reports were different than comparison groups. Additionally, both earner status and race/ethnicity analyzed separately and combined did have an association with division of family tasks. Last, differences were found between how Mexican-American dual-earning couples and comparison groups divide family tasks. Further examination of these relationships is detailed and the importance of including factors such as gender ideologies, salary, and acculturation in future studies is emphasized.

Language

English

Comments

iv, 59 p. Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2012. Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-48)

Limited Access until August 2017

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