Employment Status of the Wife‐Mother: Psychological, Social, and Socioeconomic Influences1

Abstract

This study was designed to determine factors that affect the employment status of the wife‐mother. A multiple regression technique with successive elimination of independent socioeconomic, psychological, and social variables was used. The results of a confusion matrix (cross‐tabulation of the observations of the predicted and the actual employment status of the wives) suggested that the variables used in the present study were good predictors of employment status of the wife‐mother. The general hypothesis tested was that factors influencing the employment status of the wife‐mother would be similar in both “typical” and “disadvantaged” samples. The results in both samples offer some support for this hypothesis. Three variables, husband's feelings about the wife working, youngest child's educational status, and frequency of family members' help around the house, were “universal”—statistically significant in the final regressions run on both samples. The findings suggest that psychological and social variables, as well as the commonly used socioeconomic variables, should be included in future studies concerned with explaining employment status of the wife‐mother.

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