W. Bradford Wilcox responds to critics of “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”
Not everyone is happy with the study. Here are some common charges:
Criticism: Isn’t this study out of date?
Response: It is true that the study is based on a survey that was conducted from 1992-1994. But I just analyzed new nationally-representative data from the General Social Survey from 1994-2004. I find similar patterns in this data; but the patterns are most pronounced for married women with children. Specifically, among mothers 45 and under, 53% of married mothers working full-time report they are “very happy” in their marriages compared to 62% of stay-at-home wives with children. By contrast, there isn’t much difference between childless wives who work outside the home and those who don’t: 74% of childless wives 45 and under working full-time are “very happy” compared to 76% of stay-at-home wives 45 and under who do not have children.
Criticism: Isn’t this a thinly veiled attempt to put women back into the kitchen?
Response: No. The study shows that working women who share a strong commitment to the norm of lifelong marriage with their husbands and who have a husband who is emotionally-engaged in their marriage have a high likelihood of being happy in their marriages. In fact, commitment appears to be more important than who works inside or outside the home. So working wives can be happy in their marriages, provided that they share a strong commitment to marriage with their husbands and that their husbands are emotionally engaged in the marriage.
Criticism: Aren’t you giving permission to men to stop changing and telling women to stop expecting more from their husbands?
Response: No, men need to continue doing more than they might be inclined to do in terms of their emotional and practical engagement. They need to focus on regularly expressing affection, appreciation, and empathy to their wives. They also need to do more housework and childcare than they might be inclined to do. At the same time, women need to be somewhat more realistic about how engaged their husbands can be. Most men will not be as engaged in domestic affairs as most women. But I certainly do not give men permission to stop working on their emotional and practical engagement in marriage.