Work and Housework Conditions and Depressive Symptoms Among Married Women: The Importance of Occupational Status

Using the American Changing Lives Survey, a nationally representative sample of adults residing in the United States, this research examines housewives' subjective evaluations of their housework and the subjective evaluations of paid employment among three groups of married women-professionals,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Women & health 2003-01, Vol.38 (4), p.1-17
Main Authors: Riley, Anna L., Keith, Verna M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Depression
Depression (Psychology)
Employment
Female
Homemakers
Housekeeping - statistics & numerical data
Housework
Humans
married women's mental health
Mental health
Middle Aged
Occupational Status
occupational status and depressive symptoms
Occupations
Social Class
Spouses
Status
United States
United States of America
Wives
Women's Health
Work conditions
Working conditions
Working Women
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Summary:Using the American Changing Lives Survey, a nationally representative sample of adults residing in the United States, this research examines housewives' subjective evaluations of their housework and the subjective evaluations of paid employment among three groups of married women-professionals, sales-clerical, and service-blue collar wives. A major goal was to assess the usefulness of disaggregating employed women by occupational status. Depressive symptoms were regressed on five work conditions-autonomy, physical and time demands, boredom, and feeling appreciated-along with sociodemographic characteristics. The results indicate professional wives report fewer symptoms than homemakers, sales-clerical, and service-blue collar wives. Differences between professionals and homemakers are largely accounted for by professional women's more advantaged economic position. Nonprofessional employed women are more depressed than professionals even when their disadvantaged working conditions are controlled. We discuss the findings in view of research on the stress of combining full-time employment with homemaking and argue that balancing these two roles may be more difficult for some employed women than for others.
ISSN:0363-0242
1541-0331
DOI:10.1300/J013v38n04_01