Abstract

Subject of this paper is the two-way link between the economic behavior of the family and the labor market processes. The analysis begins with the assumption that the gender division of labor is the economic foundation of the family institution. The article traces the impact of this form of economic organization on the status of women and men in the labor market. It clarifies the way in which some quantitative and structural changes in the market weaken the traditional division of labor between spouses, reduce their economic interdependence, and ultimately call into question the very future of the family institution.