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Partners' Long Work Hours and Changes in New Parents' Employment Over 40 Years
Kelly Musick1, Wonjeong Jeong2
1Cornell University.
Journal of Marriage and the Family
|August 12, 2026
Summary
New mothers reduce work hours when partners have long work hours, but fathers do not. This pattern has remained consistent over 40 years, indicating persistent gendered couple dynamics during the transition to parenthood.
Area of Science:
- Sociology
- Economics
- Family Studies
Background:
- Couple dynamics significantly influence employment decisions during the transition to parenthood.
- Research on gendered responses to work-life balance challenges is ongoing, with mixed findings on egalitarian shifts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how partners' long work hours affect new mothers' and fathers' employment.
- To investigate changes in these gendered couple dynamics over four decades.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) data from 1982-2020.
- Utilized fixed effect models on couple-year data (N = 136,336) before and after first birth.
Main Results:
- New mothers significantly reduce employment when partners work long hours.
- Fathers' employment and work hours are not sensitive to partners' long work hours.
- Little evidence of change over 40 years in the moderating effect of partners' long hours on parental employment.
Conclusions:
- This study is the first in the U.S. to analyze the evolving role of long work hours in parental employment responses.
- Findings highlight persistent gendered patterns in couple employment decisions post-childbirth.
- The study underscores the enduring influence of husbands' work hours on wives' employment.
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