The Other Partner: The Changing Role of "Good Provider" in Men's Union Formation Patterns in Industrialized Countries

Fran Goldscheider, Brown University
Pierre Turcotte, Statistics Canada

Using comparable retrospective survey data, this study looks at the ways Canadian, Italian, and Swedish men enter their conjugal life (distinguishing between marriage and cohabitation) and at how the effects of their good provider status (employment and educational level) have changed in the last 30 years. Studies on women have shown the changing effects of human capital on first union formation, and this should affect have men as "good providers." We examine three countries at very different points in the "second demographic transition": Italy (where the growth in cohabitation is recent) and Sweden (where it has been underway much longer than in Canada). Our results show parallel changes underway in each country, indicating that it is important to continue to compare, both between countries and over time, if we are to understand the situations fostering (or not) changing gender roles for men as "good providers" in the "second demographic transition."