Societal Gender Equality, Employment Instability, and Union Dissolution

Elena Bastianelli , Bocconi University
Cristina Solera, University of Turin
Daniele Vignoli , University of Florence

The present study analyzes the extent to which gender differences in the relationship between employment instability and union dissolution depend on the level of gender equality in the society. Gender equality in a society defines normative expectations about men’s and women’s social roles. Gender theories agree that the risk of union dissolution within a couple also depends on deviance from or compliance with the prevalent gender model; union dissolution is more likely when spouses’ employment and earnings violate gendered norms of behavior. Italian regions vastly differ in terms of gender equality, and thus, represent an excellent laboratory to study how culturally and institutionalized norms on gender relations influence the relationship between employment instability and union dissolution. The level of gender equality in regions is measured through three dimensions of objective equality: the percentage of dual-earner couples; the symmetry in the division of domestic and care work; and the share of children using childcare services. Preliminary results provide evidence that the gendered relationship between employment instability and union dissolution depends on the level of gender equality in the region. In regions with higher gender equality, the opposite association of women’s and men’s employment instability and union dissolution disappears. Nevertheless, dynamics between men’s employment status and type of contract and union dissolution are rather stable in different gender contexts.

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 Presented in Session 37. Divorce determinants