Non-Standard Work and Marital Instability: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago
Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, Harvard University
Jodie Levin-Epstein, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

The links between newly married adult employment patterns and marital instability in the first seven years after the marriage were investigated using current data from a sample of 1,657 newlywed couples from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. On average, the key dimension of husbands’ and wives’ employment that predicts marital stability is not being attached to work at all (relative to being employed at a regular daytime job). Among husbands in couples without children, nonstandard work is also associated with marital instability. Among couples with children, fathers’ lack of attachment to work predicts marital instability; whereas in such couples mothers’ lack of attachment to work as well as her non-standard work are associated with marital instability.