1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This study examines differences in the relationship between employment characteristics—specifically, challenging employment experiences and the gendered division of paid labour—and union stability across different union types and regions of Canada.» (p. 77-78)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«Firstly, it is hypothesized that first marriage unions will be the most strongly and negatively affected, in terms of union stability, by various difficult economic and employment situations and by a “non-traditional” division of paid work within the couple […]. Secondly, in comparison to first marriages, it is hypothesized that second marriage unions and common-law unions outside of Quebec will be less negatively affected by the experience of difficult employment and economic situations, and that they will benefit, stability-wise, from a “non-traditional” division of paid work within the couple. […] Thirdly, given the widespread prevalence of cohabitation in the province of Quebec compared to elsewhere in Canada, it is hypothesized that common-law unions within the province of Quebec will be influenced by difficult economic and employment situations, as well as a “non-traditional” division of labour, in a manner similar to that found among first marriages […].» (p. 78)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Data were drawn from the fourth panel of Statistics Canada’s Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), covering the period 2002–2007.» (p. 78)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«The results support the main hypothesis that couples from different union types and cultural regions would respond in different ways, in terms of union dissolution propensity, to the same employment and economic situations. […] While past Canadian studies have linked forms of economic deprivation to increased dissolution risk, this is the first Canadian study to link the experience of unemployment by either partner (regardless of gender) to union dissolution risk. However, contrary to hypotheses, this pattern was also found among common-law unions outside of Quebec but not among common-law unions within Quebec. Results confirmed the secondary hypothesis that the stability of first marriages would be enhanced by having a traditional gendered division of paid labour within the couple, whether measured through the characteristics of the female spouse, male spouse, or differences between the spouses. However, again contrary to hypotheses, this pattern was not the case among common-law unions within the province of Quebec. Furthermore, while second marriages emerged as being protected, stability-wise, by a non-traditional division of labour, common-law unions from either cultural region were generally not significantly influenced by the configuration of paid labour within the couple. The general lack of significant findings concerning the division of labour and earnings among common-law couples suggests that individuals in cohabiting unions do not appear to consider a particular gendered division of paid work to be instrumental to the functioning of the couple. These findings highlight the diversity of behaviours found among different types of marital unions and suggest that a traditional gendered division of labour is still present and highly influential in the stability of first marriage unions.» (p. 88)