The Prevalence of Husband-Centered Migration: Employment Consequences for Married Mothers

This study examines the employment-related returns to migration among married mothers in Canada. Based on a 1987 sample of migrant couples, this analysis shows that wives most often defer to their husbands in the decision to move. A subsidiary role for wives was most apparent when husbands indicated an employment reason for moving and was also positively associated with the annual income of the married couple. The most powerful determinant of employment returns among wives was not their economic and demographic background characteristics but whether or not they played a subsidiary role in the family migration. The odds of obtaining postmigration employment were substantially decreased for those wives who deferred to their husbands in the reason to move. It is argued that these findings can be conceptualized by gender-role theory, which emphasizes the familial roles husbands and wives have been socialized to accept.