A COMPARISON OF THE LIVING STANDARDS BETWEEN HUSBANDS AND WIVES IN DUAL-EARNER COUPLES, 1968-1979: A FEMINIST ANALYSIS (RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, SOCIAL INEQUALITIES)

This research draws on a feminist perspective that emphasizes the family as a locus of struggle over the production and distribution of resources, in which the hierarchical relations of gender, race, and the occupational division of labor interact to produce material inequalities. It explores inequalities and uneven changes in living standards between waged and salaried "dual-earner" spouses during the 1970s. The specific research question addressed is: Does exclusive focus on the couple mask inequalities and uneven changes in living standards between husbands and wives?; The data analyzed come from two waves (1969 and 1980) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The PSID is a twelve-year longitudinal sample of 5,000 families. A sub-sample of dual-earner spouses was selected for purposes of this analysis. Data are presented for spouses treated jointly, spouses treated separately, and spouses treated in relation to each other. This comparison becomes increasingly elaborate as the research progresses. First, findings are presented for the total sample of dual-earner husbands and wives. Next, dual-earner husbands and wives are further broken down into sub-groups, first by race and then by race and then by race and occupational category. In the analysis, three different measures of living standards are used. The first is labor income in constant (1968) dollars, a widely used indicator of living standards. The second, hourly wages in constant dollars, is also widely used. The third, reproduction pay in constant dollars, is unique to this study. This indicator integrates time spent at housework into the hourly wage measures. It is argued that this indicator is more reflective of the activities required to produce living standards in capitalist economies with substantial consumer goods and service sectors. The results of this research show inequalities and uneven changes between the living standards of the total sample of husbands and wives, between black husbands and wives, between white husbands and wives, and between husbands and wives typed by race and occupational categories. Thus, the study concludes that research on living standards, informed by a feminist perspective, especially if further refined, will yield more valid insights than the more traditional approaches.