"Thank U, Next"? Repartnering and the Household Division of Labor

Re-partnering and single mothers' mental health and life satisfaction trajectories

Objective

This study examines single mothers' mental health and life satisfaction trajectories around re-partnering transitions, and the driving factors of these associations.

Background

Single mothers are a particularly disadvantaged group in terms of their mental health and life satisfaction. According to the resource model, re-partnering has a positive effect on these outcomes because it provides additional social, emotional, and financial resources. In contrast, the crisis model suggests that when a mother re-partners, her mental health and life satisfaction further decline because re-partnering can trigger conflicts in the family.

Method

Using long-term annual panel data from Germany and the United Kingdom, fixed-effects regressions reveal effects among 1,101 single mothers from Germany and 549 from the UK.

Results

Life satisfaction was positively affected by re-partnering in Germany, mainly driven by income-related factors. The positive association in the UK was less strong. Patterns of mental health trajectories indicate clearer differences between the two countries: based on point estimates, we observed an increasing trajectory in Germany and a declining trajectory in the UK after the re-partnering transition. There were no significant mental health patterns observed in either country.

Conclusion

The findings suggest varying associations between well-being and re-partnering. Positive trends for life satisfaction in Germany and partially in the UK highlight the importance of financial resources. However, less clear patterns were observed for mental health, revealing differences between countries and underscoring the role of family policies.

Doing Genders: Partner's Gender and Labor Market Behavior

Partnered men and women show consistently gendered patterns of labor market behavior. We test whether not only a person's own gender, but also their partner's gender shapes hours worked. We use Dutch administrative population data on almost 5,000 persons who had both male and female partners, whose hours worked we observe monthly over 15 years. We argue that this provides a unique setting to assess the relevance of partner's gender for labor market behavior. Using two-way fixed effects and fixed-effects individual slopes models, we find that both men and women tend to work more hours when partnered with a female partner compared to a male partner. These results align with our hypothesis that a partner's gender influences labor market behavior. For women, we conclude that this finding may be (partly) explained by marital and motherhood status. Additionally, we discovered that women decrease their hours worked to a lesser extent when caring for a child if they have a female partner. Finally, we found that for men, the positive association between own and partner's hours worked is weaker when one has a female partner, indicating a higher degree of specialization within these couples.

Economic distress and perceptions of sexual intimacy in remarriage

Introduction

Economic distress and the relationship stability of remarried couples has been subject to some exploration, but less emphasis has been placed on how economic distress among remarried couples impacts other relationship domains, particularly sexual intimacy.

Methods

Through the lens of multidimensional family development theory (MFDT), this study utilizes longitudinal data over a three-year period to examine the links between economic distress, couple engagement, relationship satisfaction, and perceptions of sexual intimacy among remarried couples (n = 1,161 couples; 97% White).

Results

Through a dyadic structural equation model, results showed that wives' report of economic distress was directly related to their self-rejection of a partner's sexual advances. Findings also revealed gender differences in how both relationship satisfaction and couple engagement influenced one to accept or reject their partner's sexual advances, with couple engagement acting as a significant predictor for wives. Relationship satisfaction was also found to explain (i.e., mediate) the relation between economic distress and sexual intimacy, but only for husbands.

Discussion

Implications for further research and interventions designed to strengthen the relationships of remarried couples dealing with economic distress and intimacy issues are offered.