ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the cross-cultural generalisability of the findings concerning the psychological effects of employment for married women, as well as to see whether these effects occurred in both working-class and middle-class women. It explores a variety of measures relating to the quality of women’s working lives, both inside and outside the home, which might help to explain any obtained differences in reported well-being. During the 1970s several studies were carried out, both by psychologists and sociologists, which examined the differential satisfaction of housewives and employed married women. In addition to looking at satisfaction, some investigators have looked at the relationship of employment status to physical and psychological symptoms and, indeed, significant differences have been found. Shaver and Freedman, in a large-scale study in the United States, found that while housewives said they were as happy as employed wives, they nevertheless were more likely to report psychological symptoms such as anxiety, worry, loneliness and feelings of worthlessness.
