Education, Wage Rates, and the Division of Labor between Husband and Wife

Competing hypotheses relating the division qf labor between husband and wife to their absolute level qf education, their relative level qf education, and their relative wage rates are identified, and are combined in a fully specified model This model is estimated from panel data and it is found that neither the absolute educational level (subcultural) hypothesis nor the relative wage rate (economic) hypothesis can be rejected, although the strongest net effects are due to the presence of children. Implications for the further study qf family behavior are drawn.