Family migration and the employment of married women and men

This research reconsiders the human capital hypothesis that married women have a lower probability of employment after family migration. The empirical analysis focuses on a sample of married parents in the economically active population residing in the midwestern United States in 1980. Our analysis establishes that, after controlling for the effects of migration self-selection bias, family migration increases the probability of employment among married women by 9 percent but has no effect on the probability of employment among married men, This research demonstrates the limitations of the human capital model of family migration and indicates the need for reconceptualizing family migration behavior.