The Effects of Status Inconsistency between Spouses on Migration: Analysis of NLSY79 Couples

Ji-Youn Lee, Korea National Statistical Office
E. Helen Berry, Utah State University
Michael B. Toney, Utah State University

Using the concept of status inconsistency and family resource theory as the bases, we test the influences of relative educational and income status between spouses on family migration. Panel data from the NLSY79 indicates that only one form of status inconsistency within the couple do affect the probability of migration. The greater educational status of wives decreases the probability of migration, while the wife¡¯s relative economic position does not depress the likelihood of migration. However, we find that there is the gendered difference in the effect of status inconsistency on the probability of migration. A spouse¡¯s higher status has an impact on a wife¡¯s probability of migration but does not affect a husband¡¯s migration propensity in a comparable situation. It cannot be accounted by both the human capital and the family resource theory, since the asymmetrical power relation between husbands and wives seems to be imposed from outside the family.