TY  - JOUR
A1  - Vidal, Sergi
A1  - Brandén, Maria
A1  - Lersch, Philipp M.
A1  - Perales, Francisco
T1  - Family migration in a cross-national perspective: The importance of institutional and cultural context
Y1  - 2017/01/18
JF  - Demographic Research
JO  - Demographic Research
SN  - 1435-9871
SP  - 307
EP  - 338
DO  - 10.4054/DemRes.2017.36.10
VL  - S20
IS  - 10
UR  - https://www.demographic-research.org/special/20/10/
L1  - https://www.demographic-research.org/special/20/10/s20-10.pdf
L2  - https://www.demographic-research.org/special/20/10/s20-10.pdf
N2  - Objective: Migration rates of dual-earner couples are lower than those of male-breadwinner couples. We revisit this issue using a cross-national comparative perspective and examine heterogeneity in the role of female employment in couple relocations. We propose a theoretical framework in which national levels of support for female employment and normative expectations about gender roles act as moderators of the relationship between couple type (i.e., dual-earner and male-breadwinner) and family migration. 

Methods: We deploy discrete-time event history analyses of harmonised longitudinal data from four large-scale datasets from Australia, Britain, Germany, and Sweden, covering the 1992-2011 period. 

Results: Consistent with prior research, we find that male-breadwinner couples migrate more often than dual-earner couples in all countries, suggesting that traditional gender structures affecting family migration operate across very different contexts. We also find cross-country differences in the estimated effects of different sorts of absolute and relative partner resources on family migration. 

Conclusions: We take our results as preliminary evidence that national contexts can serve as moderators of the relationship between within-couple employment arrangements and family migration decisions. 

Contribution: Our study contributes to family migration literature by illustrating how cross-national comparisons are a valuable methodological approach to put prevailing micro-level explanations of the relationship between female employment and family migration in context. 

ER  -