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'Doing Gender' in Context: Household Bargaining and the Risk of Divorce in Germany and the United States

Cooke, Lynn Prince (2006) 'Doing Gender' in Context: Household Bargaining and the Risk of Divorce in Germany and the United States. American Journal of Sociology, 112 (2). pp. 442-472. ISSN 0002-9602. (doi:10.1086/506417) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:999)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/506417

Abstract

Gender relations remain embedded in their sociopolitical context. Compared here using event-history analysis is how household divisions of paid and unpaid labor affect marital stability in the former West Germany, where policy reinforced male breadwinner families, and the United States, where policy remains silent regarding the private sphere. In Germany, any moves away from separate gendered spheres in terms of either wives' relative earnings or husbands' relative participation in housework increase the risk of divorce. In the United States, however, the more stable couples are those that adapt by displaying greater gender equity. These results highlight that policy shapes how gender gets done in the intimate sphere, and that reinforcement of a gendered division of labor may be detrimental to marital stability.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1086/506417
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Samantha Osborne
Date Deposited: 19 Dec 2007 18:40 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:39 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/999 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Cooke, Lynn Prince.

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