Ellen L Compernolle1. 1. NORC, University of Chicago, 1155 E. 60th Street, Chicago, 60637.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of temporary labor migration on spouses' marital quality. BACKGROUND: How temporary international labor migration affects the marital relationship remains unclear. Research shows migration increases couples' risk of dissolution, whereas studies of spouses' marital quality-much of which is cross-sectional and/or limited to either internal or joint migration-is more mixed. This lack of consensus masks the possibility that, under certain conditions, migration may improve spouses' marital quality. METHOD: This study uses data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study, a panel study set in Nepal, and primary data collected among a subsample of migrant husbands (in East Asia, Middle East) and their wives and nonmigrant couples (in Nepal). RESULTS: Findings from linear regression models show that, relative to non-migrant spouses, spouses engaged in temporary international labor migration report significantly higher marital quality-less conflict and more love-net of marital quality assessed 6 years earlier. However, these benefits are not enjoyed equally between spouses: husbands' marital quality improves, whereas changes in their wives' are less conclusive. CONCLUSION: The fact that these benefits (a) diverge from previous understandings and (b) vary by spouse's gender extends current understandings of the conditions shaping this association: social and structural forces supporting men as breadwinners, a strong husband-wife bond facilitating husbands' migration, and marriage-protective social environments at both ends of migration.
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of temporary labor migration on spouses' marital quality. BACKGROUND: How temporary international labor migration affects the marital relationship remains unclear. Research shows migration increases couples' risk of dissolution, whereas studies of spouses' marital quality-much of which is cross-sectional and/or limited to either internal or joint migration-is more mixed. This lack of consensus masks the possibility that, under certain conditions, migration may improve spouses' marital quality. METHOD: This study uses data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study, a panel study set in Nepal, and primary data collected among a subsample of migrant husbands (in East Asia, Middle East) and their wives and nonmigrant couples (in Nepal). RESULTS: Findings from linear regression models show that, relative to non-migrant spouses, spouses engaged in temporary international labor migration report significantly higher marital quality-less conflict and more love-net of marital quality assessed 6 years earlier. However, these benefits are not enjoyed equally between spouses: husbands' marital quality improves, whereas changes in their wives' are less conclusive. CONCLUSION: The fact that these benefits (a) diverge from previous understandings and (b) vary by spouse's gender extends current understandings of the conditions shaping this association: social and structural forces supporting men as breadwinners, a strong husband-wife bond facilitating husbands' migration, and marriage-protective social environments at both ends of migration.