Earner Status, Marital Satisfaction, and Division of Childcare among Mexican American and Caucasian Couples

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study explores marital satisfaction, division of child tasks, and satisfaction with the division of childcare outcomes among low-income Caucasian and Mexican American (MA) couples with young children. Participants were 521 California couples, nearly three-fourths MA. Using a series of regression models to examine how ethnicity/nativity status, earner status (dual or single) and gender were related to each outcome variable; results showed that fathers generally, single-earner couples generally, dual-earner MA fathers, and MA mothers in couples with Mexican nativity were happier in their relationships. Fathers in dual-earner relationships were more involved in childcare tasks than their single-earner counterparts among Caucasians, but gender, ethnicity, and nativity differences were related to parental dissatisfactions with how childcare tasks were divided. Multivariate regression models adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic status factors changed results very little, except earner status and marital satisfaction were no longer associated. Discussion focuses on couple dynamics of sharing work and parenting roles, MA values, and implications for clinical work and future research.