Migration and employment among the civilian spouses of military personnel

Objectives. This article attempts to directly observe the effect of being a tied migrant on the economic status of the civilian husbands and wives of military personnel in order to confirm whether previously observed trailing-wife effects are consistent with being a tied migrant. Methods. A sample of the civilian husbands of women in the military and the civilian wives of men in the military are drawn from the Public Use Microdata Sample of the 1990 U.S. Census. Ordinal logit models of labor-market status and tobit models of hours worked are estimated, which include a migrant status variable. Results. Migration is associated with a 10 percent decline in employment among all civilian wives and a four-hour decline in hours worked per week among civilian wives who remain employed. Migration is associated with a statistically insignificant but very similar 6 percent drop in employment among all civilian men and a five-hour decline in hours worked per week among civilian men who remain employed. Conclusions. The results provide solid evidence that being a tied migrant, irrespective of gender, is disruptive to both labor-market status and hours worked. Thus, the assumption that wives are harmed because of their disproportionate status as tied migrants is supported.