When Wives Work: The Impact on the Chicano Family

This paper discusses data from one hundred intensive interviews conducted in 1977 with Chicano married couples in a central California city. Several variables were analyzed to determine whether they had any correlation with the type of conjugal role structure a couple had. The factor which appeared to have the strongest impact was whether or not the wife was employed outside the home. If the wife was employed, there was a greater likelihood that household chores and child care would be shared between spouses, and that, in general, they would have a more egalitarian conjugal role structure than couples where the wife was not employed.