Explaining Gender Inequalities That Follow Couple Migration

Abstract

By exploiting the unique social and economic differences between East and West Germany, the authors investigated how macro-level opportunities interact with couple-level decision making to explain gender differences in the determinants and economic outcomes of household migration. By incorporating regional socioeconomic conditions into household bargaining theory, 4 hypotheses for each region were derived. The hypotheses were tested using cross-classified multilevel regressions and the German Socio-Economic Panel (1992–2012) combined with regional economic indicators. First, gender-specific determinants of couples' West–West (i.e., within West Germany) and East-to-West migration were analyzed; second, subsequent economic consequences were investigated by comparing couples with singles. The results confirm that gender differences in macro-conditions can impose decision logics that seemingly contradict the initial power relation within couples. Despite more traditional gender arrangements in West Germany, well-educated partnered women earn significant absolute and relative income gains from migration; their egalitarian East German counterparts suffer significant losses compared with single women and East German men.