Do Gender Role Attitudes Matter?

Abstract

The effect of gender role attitudes on family formation and dissolution is analyzed using data from the 1987/1988 and 1992/1994 waves of the National Survey of Families and House-holds. Results indicate that egalitarian women are less likely to intend to have a child and actually to have a child than traditional women. Unlike women, egalitarian men are more likely to intend to have a child and less likely to divorce than traditional men. Single men with egalitarian attitudes are more likely to cohabit than their traditional counterparts. The gap between traditional women and traditional men in divorce, fertility intentions, and fertility outcomes is significant.