Married Women's Employment and Family Income Inequality

This study examines the impact married women's employment and earnings have on family income inequality in one developing country, Malaysia. Using the first and second waves of the Malaysian Family Life Surveys, this study finds, first, that married women's employment has increased from 1976 to 1988. Second, married women's employment increased for all income classes. Third, the mean annual income of the wives of low income husbands has increased the most but the mean annual income of the wives whose husbands are in the top income classes continued to be disproportionately high. This would contribute to increase family income inequality. But, despite the presence of positive assortative mating between Malaysian couples, the relatively high inequality of wives' earnings and the positive correlation between spouses' earnings, the data suggest that married women's earnings equalize family income inequality both in 1979 and in 1988. The magnitude of the equalizing effect of women's earnings decreased in 1988 for rural women and increased for urban women. Our econometric analysis reinforces the results from the descriptive analysis. It finds that the wives are more responsive to their own wage effect than to their husbands' earnings. Although the wives' employment and husbands' earnings are negatively related, the negative impact is decreasing. Our analysis from the longitudinal study finds similar results. In addition, it finds that young wives' earnings tend to increase the magnitude of the equalizing effect in rural areas while it decreases the magnitude of the equalizing effect in the urban areas.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Economics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Amin, Shahina

Contributors dc:contributor

• Blau, Francine D.

• Women's Studies

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9737033

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/85608