Rural Housewives and Retirement: Joint Decision-Making Matters

This study investigated (1) reactions of rural housewives to their husbands' retirement and (2) factors associated with satisfaction of rural wives during the retirement years. Interviews were conducted with 95 Midwestern housewives whose husbands had been retired for 6 months to 10 years. Positive and negative aspects of retirement and a range of variables associated with life satisfaction and with four specific domains of satisfaction were investigated. The most striking finding was the highly consistent relationship between joint decision-making by husband and wife and satisfaction of the wife in retirement.