Call number: LD2668 .T4 1937 I81

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 C36 / Master of Science / Family Studies and Human Services

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

The researcher 1) explored Thai employed wives' perceived fairness in the division of household labor and child care, 2) investigated factors determining Thai's working wives' perception of fairness in the division of household labor and child care, and 3) developed a model of the determinants of wives' perceived fairness in the division of household labor and child care. In the model above, relationships were explored between perceived fairness and twenty independent variables. The data are based on a survey administered to 600 employed wives from three different kinds of workplaces in Bangkok, Thailand: Government sector (n=214), quasi-government sector (n=191) and private sector (n=195). Employed wives were recruited by purposive sampling from each workplace. In addition qualitative interviews were used with a convenience sample of 30 employed wives selected by purposive sampling from the large sample of 600. The interview data suggest explanations for wives' perceived fairness in the division of household labor and child care. Stepwise multiple regression was used to develop a model of the determinants predicting wives' perceived fairness in the division of household labor and child care. Findings are that perceived fairness was positively correlated with feeling appreciated, marital happiness, within-gender comparisons, spending time together, work hours/day, family harmony, and wife's ascription to traditional women's roles; but was negatively correlated with wife's value of housework and men's incompetence at housework. The results of the stepwise multiple regression on perceived fairness of the division of household labor indicated that only 9 of 20 independent variables (predictors) enter the regression model at the .05 level of significance or above, accounting for 32% of the variability. The overall relationship of all predictors to perceived fairness was fairly high. Feeling appreciated is the best predictor, followed by marital happiness, within-gender comparison, wife's value of housework, spending time together, work hours/day of wife, family harmony, wife's ascription of women's roles, and men incompetence at housework. The interview data also support the survey data in that outcome value influence wives' perceived fairness. Wives value several outcomes in doing household work and child care. Comparison referents and justifications are another mechanisms that influence wives' perceived fairness. Most wives use several standards when they evaluate fairness, and also use many reasons to justify lower participation of their husbands. Even though gender ideology as measured, in the survey data, does not contribute much to wives' perceived fairness, the interview data strongly suggest that traditional values and culture in Thai society influence and guide wives' choices of comparison referents and justifications to accept the unbalanced of division of labor as fair for them. Both data sets reinforce that wives' perceived fairness is a result of subjective perception, influenced by emotional needs of wives. The study confirms that outcome values, comparison referents and justifications, along with marital happiness and spending time together with husbands all play important roles in explaining wives' perceived fairness. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship between possible determinants and wives' perceived fairness in the division of household labor and child care. In additions, implications for future research, policy, and education/training are discussed. / Graduation date: 2001

The number of women who choose to combine careers and traditional roles as mothers has been increasing steadily over the last number of years. As a result, the subjective wellbeing of these women has been the focus of many research projects over the last number of years. Subjective well-being has been defined in various ways by different authors. One definition describes subjective well-being as people's evaluations of their lives, which includes happiness, pleasant emotions, life satisfaction, and a relative absence of unpleasant moods and emotions. The current study, which took the form of a multiple case study, attempted to explore and describe White employed married mothers’ subjective experience of their well-being. The study also explored these women's experiences of combining the roles of employee and motherhood. The sample was obtained through the snowballing technique, and both qualitative (in-depth interviews) and quantitative techniques (two questionnaires - the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory) were utilized. The analysis of the data that was gathered was done by means of thematic and content analyses.

D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology) / During the past decades married women increasingly joined the labour market due to financial reasons as well as a need for self-actualisation, and this has had significant consequences for these womens' marriages and family lives. In addition to women joining the labour market for financial reasons, more and more women are obtaining higher academic qualifications enabling them to pursue professional careers and apply to join traditional male professional occupations, such as the medical and dental professions, the law professions, the engineering and architectural professions, as well as various other professions. Professions have been described by certain sociologists as greedy occupations. Professions tend to absorb workers to such an extent that work remain central in their thoughts even when at home, and sometimes compel them to work long hours, weekends and holidays. The division between home life and .work life becomes blurred and, to a certain extent, professional work becomes a style of life. Since the practising of a professional career requires rigorous work hours, dedication, as well as commitment, and the implications of practising such a career for the married woman with children, especially small children, are substantial. Firstly, to what extent will she be able to comply with the requirements of a professional career and adequately care for her family? Secondly, how will a professional career affect the quality of her marriage and family life? Will she be able to commit herself to both a family as well as a career? This study deals with research into the commitment of 642 married working women in the PWV-area to their work. Respondents were selected by means of a random sample obtained from the telephone directories of the PWV-area. Data was collected by means of conducting a telephonic and postal survey with the help of the opinion survey centre of the Human Sciences Research Council.

In this dissertation, we examine the economic determinants of the labor force participation and fertility behavior of married women using a simultaneous equations model. The model takes into account both the truncation of hours of work at zero and the dichotomous nature of the decision of whether to have a child. We estimate the model using maximum likelihood methods. The data used are from the Michigan Panel Survey of Income Dynamics. We find the results from the simultaneous model to be quite different from the results obtained using single equation methods. Our results thus suggest a simultaneous framework is the most appropriate for the examination of labor force participation and fertility decisions. We run simulations on two different tax policies which might be expected to affect both the labor supply decision and the fertility decision. We find the tax policies do not have a large effect on either decision, although the effect on hours worked is stronger than the effect on fertility. We also find the effects of the policies to be stronger if there are already two children in the family. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This thesis examines the effect of women's labor force participation on marital instability. It is hypothesized that women's income-earning affects marriage in two ways: 1) the "independence effect" facilitates divorce by enabling women to be self-supporting; 2) the "parallel marriage effect" improves marital satisfaction and the quality of the marital relationship because women with higher incomes generally have more power in marriage. The "independence effect" is measured by whether or not women's income is sufficient, defined as income above the poverty line for the appropriate family size as established by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Parallel marriage" is measured by the wife-husband income ratio. Both women's own income level and wife-husband income ratio are taken two years prior to her divorce.

Refugee women face several health and well-being risks in conflict settings. Intimate partner violence (IPV), military violence, poor sexual and reproductive health (SRH), early marriage, and unemployment are some of the competing challenges that refugee women face globally. IPV has been associated with mental health problems,1–3 unwanted pregnancy, pregnancy complications, STIs, and unsafe abortion practices,4 HIV,5–8 long term disabilities, chronic pain, and increased mortality and morbidity in refugee settings.9–12 Likewise, low, inconsistent, and ineffective use of modern spacing methods (MSM) of contraceptive has been linked to unplanned pregnancies, risk of abortions and unsafe abortions, maternal, infant and child morbidity and mortality, human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and obstetric complications as well as high fertility and poverty. Similarly, low economic engagement and/or unemployment of refugee women has proven to cause significant social, economic and health cost.13 Refugee women’s health and well-being are associated with individual, interpersonal, and societal level factors such as their age, education, social norms around fertility, household size, and age at marriage, contraceptive use, decision-making agency, socio-economic conditions, access to and affordability of health services and care, and acculturation in host countries among other factors. This dissertation examines how some of these multi-level factors influence women’s IPV experiences, contraceptive use, and economic engagement in income-generating activities. The first dissertation paper examines the prevalence of lifetime IPV among a sample of 191 health-care seeking women refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia. Using Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological framework and integrated theory of gender and power, I examine multilevel factors associated with lifetime IPV. I also examine the relationship between contraceptive use and lifetime IPV. About one-third (28.30 %) of refugee women reported having experienced lifetime IPV. My hypotheses were partially supported in this study. There were significant associations between marital status, household size, contraceptive use, and food insecurity and lifetime IPV experiences in the bivariate analysis. Age, education, gender-based violence, time spent in Malaysia, and clinic were women were recruited from were not significant in the bivariate analysis. There were no associations between socio-demographic variables like age, education, household size, time spent in Malaysia and the clinic in the unadjusted as well as adjusted models. However, there were significant relationships found between marital status, contraceptive use, and food insecurity and lifetime IPV experiences in the adjusted model. Widowed, separated, and divorced refugee women were significantly more likely to report lifetime IPV experiences relative to women who reported themselves as married at time of survey [OR: 2.56, 95% CI: 1.09, 6.03] compared to women did not report lifetime IPV experience in the adjusted multivariable logistic model, rejecting my hypothesis. Also, in line with my hypothesis, women who reported using permanent methods of contraceptives were significantly more likely to report lifetime IPV experiences than no contraceptive use [0R: 8.70, 95% CI: 1.95, 38.64] compared to women who did not report lifetime IPV experiences in the adjusted multivariable logistic model. In line with my hypothesis, women who reported themselves as being food insecure were more likely to report lifetime IPV experiences than no food insecurity [OR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.89] compared to women who did not report lifetime IPV experiences in the adjusted multivariable logistic model. The second dissertation paper examines the prevalence of types of MSM of contraceptive use (female controlled MSM of contraceptives such as intrauterine devices (IUDs), implants, injectables, oral contraceptives (OC); male involved MSM of contraceptives such as condoms; and no contraceptives) among a sample of 307 married Syrian refugee women in Jordan. Using Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological framework and integrated theory of gender and power, I examine multilevel factors associated with MSM of contraceptive use. I also examine the relationship between early marriage and contraceptive use and the relationship between past-year IPV and contraceptive use. About two-fifth (38.44%) of women reported using female controlled MSM (IUDs, injectables, pills, and implants), a little more than one-tenth (11.73%) reported using male involved contraceptives (male condoms), and half of them (49.84%) reported using no contraceptives (includes natural methods and no forms of contraceptive methods). My hypotheses were partially supported in this study. Socio-demographic variables such as age, head of household, and reproductive health care services received in the past six months were significant in the bivariate association between socio-demographic variables and types of MSM of contraceptive use. And early marriage, education, children under the age of five, past-year IPV experience, Syrian governorate, and time in Jordan (acculturation) were not significant in the bivariate analysis. Women who were married prior to the age of 18 years were significantly more likely to report female controlled MSM of contraceptive use than no MSM of contraceptive use at time of survey [RRR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.07, 3.13] compared to women who were married past 18 years of age in the adjusted multinomial logistic model. Women with children under the age of five were less likely to report male involved MSM of contraceptive use than no MSM of contraceptive use [RRR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.84] compared to women with children older than five years of age in the adjusted multinomial logistic model. Women who reported reproductive health care services received in the past six months were significantly more likely to report female controlled MSM of contraceptive use than no MSM of contraceptive use [RRR: 2.21, 95% CI: 1.98, 3.80] compared to women who reported not receiving reproductive health care services in the past six months in the adjusted multinomial logistic model. Contrary to my hypothesis, women who reported themselves as head of household were less likely to report female controlled MSM of contraceptive use than no MSM of contraceptive use [RRR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.89] compared to women who reported their husbands or family members as head of households in the adjusted multinomial logistic model. No associations between socio-demographic variables like age, education, past-year IPV, Syrian governorate, time spent in Jordan and MSM of contraceptive use in the adjusted multinomial logistic regression model were found. The third dissertation paper examines the prevalence of husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity among a sample of 344 married Syrian refugee women living in non-camp settings in Jordan. Using Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological framework and integrated theory of gender and power, I examine multilevel factors associated with husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. I also examine the association between no lifetime IPV and husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity and the association between head of the households and husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. I further examine if the relationship between no lifetime IPV and husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity is moderated by women’s agency measured by if they reported themselves as head of the household. About one-third (65.12 %) of women reported husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. My hypothesis was partially supported in bivariate and multivariable logistical regression analysis. Age, education, previous work experience, head of the household, no lifetime IPV, and time in Jordan were significant in the bivariate analysis between multi-level/socio-demographic variables and husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. Of the less than half (44.77%) of women who did not experience lifetime IPV, more than one-third (70.8 %) of women reported husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity relative to those who reported lifetime IPV experience (70.78 % versus 29.22 %; P=0.05). Of the more than one-fifth (22.97 %) of women who reported themselves as head of household, more than four-fifth (83.54 %) of women reported husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity relative to those who did not report themselves as head of the households (83.54 % versus 16.46 %; P=0.000). In line with my hypothesis, in unadjusted (OR=1.58 95% confidence interval, CI=1.00-2.48) and adjusted (aOR=1.60, 95% CI=0.98-2.563) models, not experiencing lifetime IPV were associated with increased odds of husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. Similarly, in both the unadjusted (OR=3.44 95% confidence interval, CI=1.80-6.54) and adjusted (aOR=2.65, 95% CI=1.33-5.29) models, women who reported themselves as head of the households were associated with increased odds of husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity, supporting my hypothesis. Likewise, in both the unadjusted (OR=7.97 95% confidence interval, CI=2.40-26.40) and adjusted (aOR=5.82, 95% CI=1.66-20.40) models, women who reported no IPV experiences as well as who reported themselves as head of the households were associated with increased odds of husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity relative to women who reported lifetime IPV experiences and who did not report themselves as the head of the households, supporting my hypothesis. Age and education were also significant in the adjusted model. These findings affirm that IPV, contraceptive use, and women’s economic engagement are serious health and well-being issues. Results fill in the literature gaps on multilevel factors associated with IPV, contraceptive use, and women’s economic engagement. The first study contributes to the literature on how contraceptive behavior, refugee women’s marital status, and food insecurity, measured as a proxy of poverty influences refugee women’s IPV experiences. The second study contributes to the literature on how marrying at an early age, having children in the households, and receiving reproductive health services influences refugee women’s contraceptive behavior. Third paper contributes to the literature on how refugee women’s lack of IPV experiences and their improved agency/household decision making power influences their economic engagement in the host country. These findings have potential to inform health, sexual and reproductive health, social norms, and economic empowerment interventions. The implications of these findings for social policy, practice, and future research for each paper are discussed in relevant sections as well as in the conclusion section.

Many American farmers have faced financial stress in the early 1980s unprecedented since the Depression. Simultaneously, farm wives have joined the off-farm labor market at rates exceeding urban women. Since prior research has found different correlates of family functioning and of external employment for rural and urban families, this descriptive study of Virginia farm wives (N = 128) investigated the impact of farm wives' external employment on the functioning of the farm and the farm family. While the sample did not represent the total Virginia farm population, it did appear to represent the financially stressed farm population. A comparison of employed farm wives (E = 57) and non-employed wives (N = 71) was analyzed to determine differences. Dependent variables affecting farm functioning included the farm's debt-to-asset ratio indicating the financial _ stress level, the wife's mental strain due to economic pressures, and lifestyle satisfaction. Dependent variables affecting family functioning were the wife's marital adjustment, psychological well being, and overall life satisfaction. The results indicated that the wife's external employment had a significantly negative impact on farm functioning. Wives working off the farm were more likely to come from farms with greater financial stress and were less satisfied with the equity factor of their lifestyle satisfaction. While mental strain was not significantly higher, more than one-third of employed wives experienced high mental strain. A significantly negative impact on family functioning was not found although employed farm wives reported lower marital adjustment and overall life satisfaction with proportionately fewer employed farm wives than nonemployed wives reporting positive psychological well-being. / Master of Science