Journal
WORK EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIETY
Volume 29, Issue 5, Pages 703-719Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/0950017014556411
Keywords
couples; domestic division of labour; employment; labour supply; recession
Categories
Funding
- UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) [RES-062-23-3284]
- Economic and Social Research Council [ES/I037628/1, ES/K005146/1, ES/H00811X/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- ESRC [ES/I037628/1, ES/K005146/1, ES/H00811X/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Economic theory suggests that when a primary earner within a couple loses their job, one potential response is for the secondary earner to seek additional paid work to bolster their household finances. The empirical quantitative evidence regarding any such added worker effect' is mixed, and, to investigate why this might be, the article explores processes behind couples' responses to job loss. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with a purposive sample selected from the Understanding Society Innovation Panel, the analysis examines: (a) anticipation surrounding job loss and job search responses; (b) the extent to which couples adopt long- or short-term labour market perspectives; and (c) whether couples seek to preserve their established division of paid and unpaid labour or re-configure their joint labour supply. Findings indicate that the use of additional spousal labour is only one response among many alternatives and it is typically invoked in cases of serious financial hardship.
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