Households’ responses to spousal job loss: ‘all change’ or ‘carry on as usual’?

Karon GushJames ScottHeather Laurie

Understanding Society Research Conference, 24-26 July 2013, University of Essex

2

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

UK Unemployment rate (aged 16+), seasonally adjusted

Men WomenSource: ONS, 2013

3

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995/9

6

1997/9

8

1999/0

0

2001/0

2

2003/0

4

2005/0

6

2007/0

8

2009/1

0

2011/1

20.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

Growth in equivalised household disposable income (UK households) Index:

1977=1

Source: ONS, 2013

4

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995/9

6

1997/9

8

1999/0

0

2001/0

2

2003/0

4

2005/0

6

2007/0

8

2009/1

0

2011/1

20.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

Growth in equivalised household disposable income (UK households) Index:

1977=1

Source: ONS, 2013

5

Job loss/reductions to paid working hours = a potentially serious threat to the economic stability of a household

What does this mean for the way paid and unpaid labour is shared between couples? In what ways does a partner react to changes in their spouses’ labour market

behaviour? What kinds of coping strategies do households adopt to weather periods of

economic uncertainty? What are the processes and motivations behind couples’ responses to changes

in labour market conditions?

Couple households’ responses to job loss

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Empirical results = mixed Added worker effect (AWE)

None: Layard et al (1980), Maloney (1987, 1991) Small: Lundberg (1985), Cullen & Gruber (2000) Small: pre-job loss, larger post-job loss: Stephens (2002) ‘Great Recession’:

Wives more likely to take on paid work in a recession Mattingly & Smith (2010)

Women with unemp. partners work more hours than those with emp.partners: Harkness & Evans (2011)

Discouraged worker effect (DWE) Bingley & Walker (2001) Disincentives UK tax and benefits system

Irwin & Morris (1993), McGinnity (2002), Harkness & Evans (2011)

Changes in spousal paid labour supply

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Process of ‘socially negotiated moral understandings’ (Duncan et al, 2003) Traditional ideologies remain/Challenge to ‘provider’ status

Legerski & Cornwall (2010), Jones (1992) Braun et al (2011)

The rise of the ‘dual breadwinner model’ Crompton & Harris (1999), Lewis (2001)

‘Resilience’ Strong capacities for coping with adversity - Harrow (2009) Batty and Cole

(2010) ‘Not a bottomless pit’ - Harrison (2010)

The division of labour within a household

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In what ways do couples act when faced with job loss:

Are these pro-active or re-active?

What kinds of short term and/or long term approaches do couples adopt?

Do they seek to maintain/regain their erstwhile share of paid and unpaid labour once their labour market prospects improve?

Research questions

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Primary data collection Associated Study on Understanding Society Sample selection

Understanding Society Innovation Panel Waves 1 - 4: cases experienced job loss or change in hours >10 hrs per week.

Purposive sample spread across England - clustered mainly in London/SE and the Midlands but including Devon/Lancs./ Cumbria/Yorks.

17 couples (30 respondents) 11 separately, 2 together, 4 one partner only

Methodology In-depth qualitative interviews Length = approx 30 mins – 1 hour Couples interviewed individually (where possible)

Data

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Do couples act pro-actively or reactively?

Respondents didn’t always see it coming, sometimes despite numerous outwards indicators of potential job loss

Avoid acting pro-actively on observable signs

Simply hope that if there are redundancies they won’t be affected.

This behaviour is evident in those who have experienced redundancy and those who are currently observing a downward turn in their employment context.

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“it was inevitable. They were going to sort of get rid of him....But it

was a shock. I think he sort of got an inkling it was going to happen,

but of course you go on and you think, “Oh, it might blow over,” but

you get a gut feeling....So I would say probably about four weeks,....

you know, before we knew. But even then, you know, we didn’t know.

And when it did happen, we were absolutely gobsmacked.” [Gail, Catering Assistant, Worcestershire.]

Anticipated shocks?Do couples act pro-actively or reactively?

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“You’ve got the choice of either hoping things are going to

get better or decide there’s some better opportunities

elsewhere, and to move and at the moment, I’m just

hanging in there...... I was put at risk redundancy-wise,

I’ve just come through that and it could well be that if

things don’t get better that will happen again. [Ian, IT Specialist, Berkshire]

‘Hanging in there’Do couples act pro-actively or reactively?

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Short term aims Short term measures

E.g. panicking and taking the first job that comes along - and sometimes later wishing they hadn’t

Long term aims Short term measures

E.g. concerns about lengthy workplace absences – need to act quickly to maintain a career

Long term measures E.g. changes in lifestyle

Short term and/or long term approaches?

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And I was thinking, who’s gonna want to employ me, nearly 50

years of age...I was quite surprised when they took me in. I

regretted going there...financially, we obviously, we got some

redundancy money to save...walking into a job straight away that

then becomes a bit of a benefit. But I just wish that I took a little

bit more time and...try and find something more suited to what I

want, you know, to what I would've enjoyed more rather than just

panicking and taking the first thing that sort of came along’ [Dave, Health Care Assistant, Worcestershire]

‘Panic’.....Short term and/or long term approaches?

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I didn’t really want to go full-time......my concern, when my last

school closed down was that...I’m not a cheap teacher anymore.

I’m not easy to employ because I’m more expensive. Students...

people just leaving college are obviously more a bit more

desirable because they’re cheaper with no experience but

nevertheless school budgets are...dictate that. My job...you need

to keep in my job otherwise, you lose touch what’s going on” [Wendy, Teacher, London]

Short term and/or long term approaches?

...to stay in the ‘game’....

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Lifestyle preferences Fostering, charity work, spending time with grandchildren,

starting a family

“...in a way, for us, it came at quite a good time because...they

said, “Yeah, you can start [IVF] in the June” and obviously, I got

made redundant in the June...... I did get offered a job just before

the shop closed and I was like in two minds to take it and then we

just decided, you know, just to concentrate on [the IVF] [Claire, Stay-at-home-mum, Devon]

......or a change of lifestyle.Short term and/or long term approaches?

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Emphasis on getting the unemployed partner back into work

Resistance to substantial changes in the share of paid and unpaid labour between couples

Other income smoothing techniques – ‘cutting down’ on general household expenditure/leisure activities, restructuring finances, drawing on savings and money from family

But things would have been different if in serious financial hardship

sdf

Do couples seek to maintain/regain erstwhile status quo?

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Well, when I'm looking for a job, [my wife] is up there with

me looking as well. And when I'm not at home, if I'm doing

something else, she's, she'll spend time looking for a job for

me on the Internet as well. [Dave, Health Care Assistant, Worcestershire]

No, I wouldn’t…well, no, I probably wouldn’t be able to

[increase work hours]. It’s only a morning nursery anyway,

and I do three mornings. And they wouldn’t take me on the

other two days if we haven’t got, you know, the children.

We’ve got enough staff, so I probably wouldn’t be able to

increase my hours. [Sarah, Nursery Assistant, Surrey]

Do couples seek to maintain/regain erstwhile status quo?

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Qualitative evidence offers some insight as to why the expected added worker effect in quantitative studies is often not present or quite small

The use of additional spousal labour as a response to unemployment is one response amongst a set of alternatives Couples may prefer to exhaust all other alternatives before

invoking additional spousal labour Couples seem work very hard to retain a status quo in their

division of labour Unless a change facilitates the realisation of a long term aim

To avoid making unnecessary changes to their share of labour couples appear to act re-actively

Conclusions

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Batty, E. and I. Cole (2010). Reslience and the recession in six deprived communities: Preparing for worse to come? Poverty and place programme. J. p. paper. York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

 Bingley, P & Walker, I (2001) “Household Unemployment and the Labour Supply of Married Women” in Economica Vol. 68 pp. 157-185

Braun, A; Vincent, C; & Ball, SJ (2011) “Working-class fathers and childcare: the economic and family contexts of fathering in the UK” in Community, Work & Family Vol. 14 (1) pp. 19-37

 Crompton, R. & Harris, F. (1999) “Employment, Careers, and Families” in Crompton, R. (ed.) Restructuring Gender Relations and Employment: The Decline of the Male Breadwinner, Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press

 Cullen, JB & Gruber, J (2000) “Does Unemployment Insurance Crowd out Spousal Labor Supply?” in Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 18 (3) pp. 546-572

Duncan, S., R. Edwards, T. Reynolds and P. alldred (2003). "Motherhood, Paid Work and Partnering: Values and Theories." Work, Employment & Society 17(2): 309-330.

 Harkness, S & Evans, M (2012) “The Employment Effects of Recession on Couples in the UK: Women’s and Household Employment Prospects and Partners’ Job Loss” in Journal of Social Policy Vol. 40 (4) pp. 675-693

Harrision, E (2013) “Bouncing back? Recession, resilience and everyday lives” in Critical Social Policy Vol. 33 (1) pp. 97-113

 Jones, L (1992) “His Unemployment and Her Reaction: The Effect of Husbands' Unemployment on Wives” in Affilia Vol. 7 (1) pp. 59-73

 

References (1)

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 Irwin, S & Morris, L (1993) “Social Security or Economic Insecurity? The Concentration of Unemployment (and Research) Within Households” in Journal of Social Policy Vol. 22 (3) pp. 349-372

 Layard, R; Barton, M; & Zabalza, A (1980) “Married Women's Participation and Hours” in Economica Vol. 47 pp. 51-72

 Legerski, EM & Cornwall, M (2010) “Working-class job loss, gender, and the negotiationof household labor” in Gender and Society Vol. 24 (4) pp. 447-474

 Lewis, J. (2001). "The Decline of the Male Breadwinner Model: Implications for Work and Care." Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society 8 (2): 152-169.

Lundberg, S (1985) “The Added Worker Effect” in Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 3 (1) pp. 11-37

 Maloney, T (1987) “Employment constraints and the labor supply of married women: a re-examination of the added worker effect” in Journal of Human Resources Vol. 22 pp. 51-61.

 Maloney, T (1991) “Unobserved Variables and the Elusive Added Worker Effect” in Economica Vol. 58 pp. 173-187

 Mattingly, M & Smith, K (2010) “Changes in Wives’ Employment When HusbandsStop Working: A Recession-Prosperity Comparison” in Family Relations Vol. 59 pp. 343-359

 McGinnity, F (2002) “The Labour-force Participation of the Wives of Unemployed Men Comparing Britain and West Germany Using Longitudinal Data” in European Sociological Review Vol. 18 (4) pp. 473-488

 Stephens, M (2002) “Worker Displacement and the Added Worker Effect” in Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 20 (3) pp. 504-537

References (2)