The men behind economically successful women: A focus on Dutch dual-earner couples

Abstract

Using data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, this paper compares the partners of economically successful women with those of women who have fared less well on the labor market. First, socioeconomic and attitudinal within-couple homogamy is investigated. Second, hypotheses derived from social capital theory and companionate theory are tested to examine how socioeconomic and attitudinal characteristics of male partners are related to women’s economic success. Economically successful women tend to have high-income men, suggesting an accumulation of favorable material resources. Men’s supportive behavior rather than their attitudes contribute to their wives’ economic success.