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11/1/2017 Yuzu: Psychology of Gender: Fourth Edition

https://reader.yuzu.com/#/books/9781317345046/cfi/6/42!/4/2/2/12/4@0:0 1/2

Over the course of the 20th century, women made great progress in terms of education and participation in the labor force. In 1970, 43% of women age 16 and over worked outside the home, and in 2009, the rate was 59% (see Figure 12.2; U.S. Department of Labor, 2010b). Among whites, the percentages were 73% women versus 59% men; among blacks, 65% versus 60%; and among Asians, 75% versus 58%. Both women and men may work outside the home due to choice but also due to economic necessity. There has been a change in women’s desire to work outside the home. A 2007 Gallup Poll showed that 50% of women and 68% of men prefer to work outside the home (Saad, 2007a). In 1974, 36% of women preferred to work outside the home, which rose to 49% in 1978. Interestingly, this number has not changed much but fluctuated between 49% and 53% over the past 30 years!

FIGURE 12.2Percentage of women age 16 and over who participate in the civilian labor force. Source: Adapted from U.S. Department of Labor (2010b).

Whereas women’s labor force participation has increased since 1975, the participation rate for men has decreased. The reason is unemployment. Historically, women had higher unemployment rates than men, but the recent economic turndown has led to a greater increase in unemployment among men than women (Galinsky et al., 2009). Men are employed in industries that have suffered the greatest job loss. In June of 2010, the unemployment rates for White men and women were 9% and 7%, respectively. The corresponding figures for Black men and women were higher—17% and 12%, respectively.

What is the effect of paid employment on men’s and women’s health? There is reason to assume that both the differential exposure and differential vulnerability hypotheses explain sex differences in the effects of the paid worker role on health. Men are more likely to possess this role than women, especially if the paid worker role is limited to those who are employed full time. To the extent the paid worker role is associated with good health, men are more likely than women to reap the benefits. This is the differential exposure hypothesis. As a society, we attach greater importance to men working outside the home compared to women; thus the effect of the paid worker role on health may be stronger for men. This is the differential vulnerability hypothesis.

Strong evidence suggests that the paid worker role influences the health of both women and men. As you will see next, paid employment is generally associated with better health for women and men. It is difficult to compare the effects of the paid worker role on women’s and men’s health because it is more normative for men than women to work outside the home. When we compare men who do and do not work outside the home, we are typically studying the effect of unemployment on health. When we compare women who do and do not work outside the home, we are comparing employed women to two groups of nonemployed women—unemployed women and women who choose not to work outside the home. The two groups are not the same.

The effect of employment on health is a topic that necessarily focuses on women because there is more variability in women’s than men’s employment. In this first section of the chapter, I focus on the effects of women’s employment on their health. Then, I examine the effects of multiple roles on women’s and men’s health and how work and family roles influence one another. I also evaluate the effect of work on health by briefly describing the literature on retirement. After evaluating the effects of the mere possession of the paid worker role on health, I turn to the implications of the more qualitative aspects of the paid worker role for health.

11/1/2017 Yuzu: Psychology of Gender: Fourth Edition

https://reader.yuzu.com/#/books/9781317345046/cfi/6/42!/4/2/2/12/4@0:0 2/2

Women’s Employment A historical explanation of why women were more distressed and had worse health than men was that women were less likely to possess the paid worker role (Gove & Tudor, 1973). Work was associated with a number of resources, not the least of which was economic, and women had less access to this resource than men. However, when women entered the paid workforce, people began to consider the negative effects of employment on health. People were concerned that women who combined work and family roles would suffer role strain and role overload. People were also concerned that women working outside the home would detract from the time women spent taking care of their husbands and family. Thus, in this section, I examine the implications of women working for their own health and the implications of women working for the family. Effects on Health. A cross-cultural study of 25 European countries showed that women’s lower well-being compared to that of men was due in part to the fact that women engaged in less paid work and more domestic work compared to men (Boye, 2009). The more hours worked outside the home was associated with higher well- being for women, and the more hours of domestic work was associated with lower well-being for women.

When women who work outside the home are compared to women who work inside the home, a wealth of evidence indicates that employed women report better psychological and physical health (Fokkema, 2002; Khlat, Sermet, & Le Pape, 2000), even in traditional societies like Spain (Artazcoz, Borrell et al., 2004). Even among women with children, the weight of the evidence is that employed mothers are healthier than nonemployed mothers, and more so if children are older (Fokkema, 2002).

One problem with studies that compare the health of employed women to housewives is that they are often cross-sectional, meaning the people are studied at a single point in time. Thus we do not know if employment leads to an improvement in health or if healthier people are more likely to be employed. This is the basis of the selection effect. Longitudinal studies in which both employment and health are tracked over time enable us to determine whether health leads to employment or employment leads to health. There is evidence for both. Physically healthier people are more likely to be employed (Christ et al., 2007), and employment leads to better health for women (Klumb & Lampert, 2004). Explanations. The employee role benefits women’s health for a number of reasons. Employment increases self- esteem, instills a sense of accomplishment, and provides more