Women's Socioeconomic Advantage Over Their Partners and Relationship Dissolution: A 29-Country Study

Abstract

Objective

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms driving the association between women's socioeconomic advantage and the risk of relationship dissolution.

Background

Research consistently finds that different-sex couples in which women have higher socioeconomic status than their partners are more likely to separate. Several competing explanations for this association have been proposed, including the role of gender culture, specialization optimization, partner opportunity structure, and economic mediators. However, robust empirical evidence for these explanations remains elusive.

Method

This study harmonizes couple-level panel survey data for 29 high-income countries from 2004 to 2020 (N = 544,911 couples). Using hierarchical probability models, it leverages country-level measures on gender norms and other macro-level characteristics to provide new direct tests of key hypothesized mechanisms underpinning the association between women's relative earnings and the risk of separation.

Results

Consistent with prior research, results show that the association between women's socioeconomic advantage and relationship dissolution is positive and statistically significant. But, contrary to expectations, the results do not provide evidence that this association is moderated by gender culture or driven by other common explanations. Instead, the analyses show evidence that this association is stronger among couples with children in the household, suggesting a potential work–family conflict mechanism.

Conclusion

The study concludes that our understanding of the mechanisms driving this association is incomplete and that more research is necessary to develop new explanations.