Examined farm families with and without employed wife on economic and relationship status. Data from 1,067 farm spouses revealed that, compared to families with nonemployed wives, families with employed wives had higher debt loads, wives who worked longer hours in all production, wives who were less satisfied with marital relationship, and…

Dual-career analysis is misleading as a guide to actual developments in wives' employment and family economic patterns at different levels of the class system. Weaknesses can be examined through seven empirical propositions concerning the determinants of family employment patterns at various class levels. (1) Despite recent gains, married women in…

In a 1972 interview survey of 250 rural families in 2 East Tennessee counties, patterns of family functioning were shown to be directly related to economic level, husband's age, and husband's educational level. Within the sample population consisting of family households of 2 or more members, the mean age of husbands was 49, and of wives, 46. The…