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Cleaning in the Shadow of the Law? Bargaining, Marital Investment, and the Impact of Divorce Law on Husbands' Intrahousehold Work

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  • Jennifer Roff

Abstract

Previous literature has established that unilateral divorce laws may reduce women's household work and overall marital investment. If unilateral divorce has differential costs by gender, it may impact household work by gender through bargaining channels. However, little research has examined how divorce laws affect men's levels and share of household production. To examine this, I use data on matched couples from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and exploit time variation in state divorce laws. I find that unilateral divorce laws lead to a decrease in marital investment, as measured by mens' and women's household work. The evidence also supports a bargaining response to divorce laws, as fathers in states without joint-custody laws engage in a significantly higher share of household work under unilateral divorce than those in states with joint-custody laws, consistent with a higher cost of marital dissolution among fathers who stand to lose custody of their children.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Roff, 2017. "Cleaning in the Shadow of the Law? Bargaining, Marital Investment, and the Impact of Divorce Law on Husbands' Intrahousehold Work," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(1), pages 115-134.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/692806
    DOI: 10.1086/692806
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    Cited by:

    1. Fernández-Kranz, Daniel & Roff, Jennifer Louise & Sun, Hugette, 2018. "Can Reduced Child Support Make Joint Custody Bad for Children? The Role of Economic Incentives in U.S. Divorce Law on Child Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 12025, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Robert A. Pollak, 2019. "How Bargaining in Marriage Drives Marriage Market Equilibrium," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(1), pages 297-321.
    3. Abraham Chigavazira & Hayley Fisher & Tim Robinson & Anna Zhu, 2019. "The Consequences of Extending Equitable Property Division Divorce Laws to Cohabitants," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2019n03, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    4. Fernandez-Kranz, Daniel & Nollenberger, Natalia, 2022. "The impact of equal parenting time laws on family outcomes and risky behavior by teenagers: Evidence from Spain," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 303-325.
    5. El Mekkaoui, Najat & Loukili, Sara & Fourouheshfar, Yeganeh & Eissa, Nada, 2024. "For Labor or for Divorce ? Unilateral Divorce Laws and Women’s Labor Outcomes," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10661, The World Bank.
    6. Kranz, Daniel Fernández & Roff, Jennifer & Sun, Hugette, 2021. "Can economic incentives for joint custody harm children of divorced parents? Evidence from state variation in child support laws," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 1-27.
    7. Hoehn-Velasco, Lauren & Penglase, Jacob, 2021. "Does unilateral divorce impact women’s labor supply? Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 315-347.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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