Spouses' division of labor and marital stability: Applying the multiple-equilibrium theory to cohort trends of divorce in East and West Germany

Abstract

Objective: In comparing East and West Germany, we investigate task specialization and its association with marital stability twofold: (1) Has the association between women’s employment and divorce risk changed across marriage cohorts? (2) Are men’s levels of engagement in domestic tasks associated with divorce risk? Background: While older theories assumed that women’s employment destabilized marriages, newer theories suggest that men can re-stabilize marriages by changing their behavior and engaging in housework. Method: We analyze data from the SOEP using discrete-time event history models in a historical and a dyadic perspective. Results: Our results show that the associations between women's employment and the risk of divorce have been changing across marriage cohorts, and that this trend began earlier in East Germany. Husbands' relative contribution to division of housework is not found to stabilize marriages in East and West Germany, but we find differences between marriage cohorts in West Germany. Conclusion: Our findings confirm that the traditional male breadwinner model is no longer associated with a stable equilibrium in marriage in Germany. It appears that either the German society is still in the transitional stage, as men’s contributions to housework are shown to be irrelevant for marital stability; or that gender equality is not associated with the new stable equilibrium in marriages.