Labor Force Outcomes and Care Work Burdens for Women in Military Families

• In Event: 3523 - Family Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 11: Work and Families

Abstract

Prior research has established negative impacts of unpaid caretaking on women’s psychological and physical health, but less is known about the impact of women’s unpaid caretaking on their paid work, especially in the context of caring for cohabiting partners who are veterans. What are the effects of cohabiting with a veteran partner on a woman’s labor force outcomes? The current study examines the effects of veteran cohabitation, as well as the physical or mental disability of the veteran partner, on three separate outcomes: annual wages, income, and hours worked. Fixed effects models are estimated using PSID data from 2008–2017. Results indicate that cohabiting with veteran partners significantly decreases women’s labor force outcomes across all three measurements. Unlike veteran status, physical and mental disabilities of veteran partners have divergent effects. Overall, these findings confirm negative effects of caretaking within veteran families and suggest avenues for exploring disability in caretaking relationships.

Authors

• Angela Clague, University of California, Los Angeles

• Sara Johnsen, UCLA

• Hilary Flowers, UCLA