Necessity, Compatibility and Status Attainment as Factors in the Labor-Force Participation of Married Women

The probability is tested that a married woman will more likely participate in the labor force: (1) the lower the family income without her earnings; (2) the higher her occupational prestige potential; (3) the less her occupational prestige potential differs from her husband's; and (4) the more her occupational prestige potential exceeds the occupational prestige of her husband. Data from the General Social Surveys conducted between 1974 and 1977 support the importance of economic necessity and occupational potential but do not support either the effects of status compatibility or status enhancement. Beyond the effects of age, children, and the need for income, occupational prestige potential is able to explain almost half again as much variance as the other variables combined.