Female Labor Force Participation, Status Integration and Suicide, 1950–1969

Abstract

Using Census data covering the 29 year period starting in 1950 this, study tests the hypothesis that (1) female labor force participation may result in more married women committing suicide due to the strain of household and outside working responsibilities and that (2) female labor force participation may also be associated with higher rates of male suicide due to the fact that it represents apparent failure of the husband as sole breadwinner ( Stack, 1978 ). Results show that during the 1950's male suicide was not associated with growth in the female labor force, but female suicide was. During the 1960s male suicide was negatively associated with female labor force participation, but the opposite was true for females. It is argued that working women represented a weakening of norms concerning sex roles. Apparently as more and more women entered the labor force, role conflict did ensue, but contrary to the above hypothesis it only increased female suicide potential. These results are discussed in terms of different normative sex role contexts of the 1950s and the 1960s.