Psychological Medicine, 1988, 18, 477-486

Printed in Great Britain

The transition to parenthood in dual-earner couplesSUZAN N. C. LEWIS AND CARY L. COOPER1

From the Department of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Manchester Polytechnic, and Department ofManagement Sciences, University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester

SYNOPSIS The impact of the transition to parenthood for dual-earner couples was examined ina longitudinal study. Data were collected by questionnaire from couples expecting their first child,during pregnancy and after maternity leave, and from childless couples at two separate time points.The impact of the transition was minimal overall, although women experienced more pressure thanmen and there were some cases of extreme stress. New single-earner parents reported a greaterdecline in life satisfaction than dual-earners.

INTRODUCTION

A growing research literature has documentedthat the dual-earner family lifestyle involvesstress as well as rewards and benefits (Keith &Schafer, 1980; Sekaran, 1983, 1985, Lewis &Cooper, 1987). Cross-sectional studies indicatethat pressures such as overload, time shortage,work-family role conflict and schedule incom-patibility are more severe for dual-earner parentsthan non-parents (Pleck et al. 1978; Lewis &Cooper, 1987). Thus, the birth of a first childmay be a particularly stressful life event fordual-earner spouses. As more women takeadvantage of maternity leave rights to minimizethe length of their employment break afterchildbirth (Daniel, 1980, the number of'contin-uous ' dual-earner couples is increasing (David-son & Cooper, 1983). However, there is apaucity of evidence concerning the impact of thetransition to parenthood in this context.

It is widely acknowledged that the birth ofa first child is a major life event requiringsubstantial adjustment to changing roles(LeMasters, 1957; Hobbs & Cole, 1976; Elliottet al. 1985; Moss et al. 1986). There has beensome controversy, however, as to whether theprocess by which the family as a social systemevolves from an adult-based dyad to a child-based triad, constitutes a crisis. This wassuggested by early studies using retrospectivedata to examine the degree of change involved

1 Address for correspondence: Professor C. L. Cooper, Depart-ment of Management Sciences, UMIST, PO Box 88, ManchesterM60 1QD.

in the transition, for middle-class families(LeMasters, 1957; Dyer, 1963). Subsequentstudies, using larger, more representativesamples assessing reaction to, rather than extentof, change and including some longitudinalresearch have concluded that only moderate orslight crisis is involved, with women reportinggreater impact than men (Hobbs, 1965; 1968;Hobbs & Cole, 1976; Hobbs & Wimbush, 1977).It has also been suggested that the adaptationrequired by the transition may produce a declinein marital satisfaction, although the evidence isnot entirely consistent (Feldman, 1974; Spanieret al. 1975; Hobbs & Cole, 1976; Miller & Sollie,1980; Belsky et al. 1983; Moss et al. 1986), anda shift towards a patriarchal division of labour,even in egalitarian families (Entwistle & Doering,1980; La Rossa & La Rossa, 1981; Belsky et al.1983; Elliott et al. 1985). While there is evidenceof an improvement in psychological and physicalhealth from pregnancy to the puerperium formost women (Elliott et al. 1983; Cutrona, 1985),a minority of cases have also been noted inwhich there is severe deterioration in mentalhealth (Elliott et al. 1983). The existing evidence,therefore, implies the potential for stress in thetransition to parenthood, but is not entirelyconsistent.

Regrettably, the weight of research on theresponse to new parenthood appears to be basedon the implicit assumption that motherhoodsignifies the termination, or at least a substantialreduction, of women's occupational involvement.Several studies provide details only of husbands'occupations, as an indication of social class

477

478 S. N. C. Lewis and C. L. Cooper

(Elliott et al. 1983; Moss et al. 1986), whileothers refer to mothers' employment status butfail to treat this as an independent variable(Belsky et al. 1983; Feldman & Nash, 1984).Clearly, the changes involved in the transition toparenthood are qualitatively different for dual-earner couples and traditional families. Amongthe transitional problems reported in previousstudies were those of mothers' adaptation to lossof employment, and fathers' additional wage-earning responsibilities (LeMasters, 1957; Dyer,1963). The lack of such pressures, together withevidence that employment may protect vulner-able mothers of infants against depression(Brown & Harris, 1978), suggests that thetransition may require less adaptation, andhence be less stressful for dual-earners. However,the pressures involved in managing work andfamily roles for dual-earner parents, especiallymothers with very young children, are welldocumented (Chassin et al. 1985; Lewis &Cooper, 1987). In addition, there is someevidence that new mothers experience particulardifficulty in role integration when returningto employment, since they frequently retainmajor responsibility for childcare (Entwistle &Doering, 1980).

One consequence of the focus on predomi-nantly traditional couples in previous research,has been the emphasis on the marital relation-ship, and the relative neglect of the impact of thetransition to parenthood on occupational experi-ences. The process whereby women anticipate,experience and return from maternity leave isclearly an example of an occupational, as well asa family transition, requiring considerable adap-tation. The job-related transition is less apparentfor fathers, due to lack of paternity leaveprovisions. However, this lack of visibility ofthe transition, together with the still prevalentassumption that family commitment ought notto impinge upon work commitment for men(Pleck, 1977; Lamb et al. 1983), also implypossible problems of adaptation for new fathersattempting to share parenting with employedwives. There is evidence of stress associated withwork related transitions, such as organizationalentry (Wanous, 1980), transfer within an organ-ization (Hayes & Hough, 1976) and transition tounemployment (Kasl et al. 1975), all of whichrequire the learning of new behaviours to fulfillnew roles. In view of the association between

work and non-work experiences and satisfac-tions (Near et al. 1980; Rice et al. 1980) the birthof a first child may thus involve transitionalstress for dual-earner parents adapting to thedemands of their new role combination.

In view of the dearth of studies of thetransition to parenthood for non-traditionalcouples and neglect of occupational factors inprevious research, the present study investigatesthe impact of the birth of a first child on theexperience of occupational stress for dual-earnerspouses. Changes in self-reported pressuresassociated with work-family management areexamined for new mothers and fathers, as wellas new pressures involved in the combining ofparenting and employment. Possible changes inmanifestations of stress, including job dissatis-faction, life dissatisfaction and psychologicalsymptoms are also investigated.

Finally, a further limitation of most of theprevious transition to parenthood literature hasbeen the failure to use a control group. Althoughnew parents have been compared with thoseexpecting subsequent babies (Elliott et al. 1985),the conceptualization of the transition as nor-mally involving adaptation to a single-earnerlifestyle has rendered the identification of acontrol group problematic. The present study,therefore, extends previous research by em-ploying a sample of non-transitional dual-earnercouples as a control group.

METHODDesignMost previous studies of dual-earner parentsand non-parents have used cross-sectional de-signs, (Pleck et al. 1978; Holohan & Gilbert,1979; Lewis & Cooper, 1987). Consequently, nounequivocal causal inferences could be madeconcerning the impact of parenthood, andspecifically the transition to parenthood. Thepresent study, therefore, employed a longi-tudinal design. Self-reported measures of press-ures and manifestations of stress were obtainedfrom transitional and non-transitional couplesat two points in time: before and after maternityleave for transitional couples, and within anequivalent time span for childless controls. Asexpected, a minority of women decided not toreturn to work, and thus the transitional groupwas further subdivided into transitional two-

Transition to parenthood 479

earner and transitional single-earner couples.The design, therefore, yielded three groups ofcouples, whose changes in stress scores over timecould be compared.

Sample and procedure

Two-earner couples were defined as couples inwhich both spouses were employed full-timeoutside the home, and who had been married orcohabiting for a minimum of 2 years. In thecontext of a larger study of occupational stressin two-earner families, women who were expect-ing their first child, and intending to resume full-time employment following maternity leave,were contacted through National ChildbirthTrust classes, an ante-natal clinic and personnelofficers of 10 public and private sector organiza-tions, and invited together with their partners toparticipate in the research. The personnel officersalso supplied the names of members of dual-earner couples with no children, and notexpecting a child. The initial sample of 184subjects, i.e. 92 couples, comprised 47 couplesexpecting their first child, and 45 childlesscouples. At the second stage, a number ofchildless women were pregnant and their re-sponses were discarded. In addition, a smallnumber of subjects, predominantly from thecontrol group, failed to respond, and othersubjects were lost due to occurrences such asdivorce or separation and misfortunes to thebaby. The final sample from which data wereavailable on two occasions comprised 126subjects; 26 transitional two-earner couples,15 transitional single-earner couples, and 22childless control couples.

The majority of the sample (76-9 %) were agedbetween 26 and 35 years. A range of occupationallevels were represented, (see Table 1). There wasa bias towards higher status occupations, whichmay be partly due to the recruitment strategyand use of questionnaires in this study. However,

there is evidence that women who resume theirfull-time employment after maternity leave tendto be unrepresentative of the general populationof women (Daniel, 1980; Brannen & Moss,1987). In particular, women in semi-skilled jobsoften do not qualify for maternity leave and,therefore, following childbirth they return tonew jobs, many of which are part-time (Daniel,1980). There was no significant associationbetween occupational status and inclusion inany of the three groups, although there was atrend towards higher status among the tran-sitional dual-earners.

At time 2, 53-8% of dual-earner parents usedhome-based childcare, which included a nanny,childminder or relative in the child's own home,11-5% used a nursery or creche, and 23%reported that their baby was cared for by arelative, out of the home, during working hours.A further 11-5% reported using a combinationof different childcare arrangements. There wereno shift workers in the initial sample, but onesubject, a nurse, was working night-shifts at thetime of the post-test, as a consequence ofchildcare problems.

Pairs of questionnaires with individualstamped addressed envelopes were distributedto women at their place of work, National Child-birth class, or clinic. Subjects were requested tocomplete and return the forms independently.Transitional women were initially contactedduring the second trimester of pregnancy. Theyhad notified employers of their intention to returnto work, but had not yet commenced maternityleave. This stage was also considered appropriateas there is some evidence that the secondtrimester is the least stressful period of pregnancy(Elliott et al. 1983). Follow-up data werecollected when those women who had returnedto employment had been working for approxi-mately 3 months, in order to assess the impact ofthe transition on the parents of infants, while

Table 1. Occupational status of subjects, according to the office of Populationand Censuses Surveys Classifications (1980)

Professional and managerialIntermediate occupationsSkilled or partly skilled

TransitionalN

II2813

dual-earners(%)

21-253-824-9

TransitionalN

71112

single-earners(%)

23-436-640

Childless, controlsN

52019

(%)

11-445-5431

480 S. N. C. Lewis and C. L. Cooper

avoiding potential settling-in problems of thefirst few weeks. The maximum period of ma-ternity leave was 28 weeks after the birth, andtherefore the age of infants at the time of thepost-test was 10 months or younger.

Instruments

Self-report questionnaires were used to obtaindata on background variables, home-workinterface pressures, and manifestations ofstress.

Demographic dataInformation was obtained on age, occupationaland educational level, in the pre-test question-naire.

In the post-test questionnaire, transitionalsubjects were required to indicate whether theyor their partners were mainly responsible forchildcare, childcare responsibility was shared, or'paid help' undertook major childcare responsi-bility.

Data were also obtained on type of childcareused during working hours.

Home-work interface pressures

Eleven potential sources of pressure in thehome-work interface for dual-earners wereidentified from a pilot study, and previousresearch (see Lewis & Cooper, 1987). Theseinclude such items as ; ' lack of time to accomplishall I need to do', 'not being able to travel asmuch as I would like with my job, because offamily constraints', and 'my spouse's attitudetowards my job' . Subjects were required toindicate on a 5-point Likert scale, the extent towhich each item was a source of pressure, from'no pressure at all', to 'a source of extremepressure', at time 1 and time 2.

On the post-test questionnaire, the transitionaldual-earner couples were also required to ratethe extent of pressure experienced in relation toa further 8-items concerned specifically withthe combining of parenting and employment.Examples of these items include; 'feelings ofguilt or anxiety about my child while I am atwork', and 'demands of child interfering withmy work'.

Stress manifestation questionnaireMeasures of anxiety, depression, somatic symp-toms, job dissatisfaction and life satisfactionwere obtained at time 1 and time 2.

The free floating anxiety and depression scalesof the Crown Crisp Experiential Index and thesomatic scale of the General Health Question-naire were selected as measures suitable for aworking population including pregnant women.The reliability and validity of these measurescan be found in Crown & Crisp (1979) andGoldberg (1978) respectively.

The job dissatisfaction measure was a two-item scale developed by Davidson & Cooper(1983). The inter-item correlation was 0-56 (P< 0-001). The life dissatisfaction measure was afive-item questionnaire adapted from Warr et al.(1979), which comprised four items assessingsatisfaction with personal life and one itemmeasuring overall life satisfaction. Items werereversed to assess life dissatisfaction. The co-efficient alpha of this scale was 0-71.

It is recognized that full-time mothering isa demanding and potentially stressful job(Boulton, 1983). Nevertheless, the focus of thisstudy was on possible changes in stress related tofamily and paid employment and, therefore, nodata were collected for work-family pressures orjob satisfaction for housewives at the post-test.

RESULTS

In order to ensure comparability betweenthe groups, analyses were first conducted todetermine whether there were any significant dif-ferences between women who resumed employ-ment following maternity leave, and those whochose to extend their career break. A significantassociation was found between return to workand age group ( / = 6-65, d f l , P < 0001),confirming previous findings that women whodelay childbearing are more likely to takeadvantage of maternity leave rights than youngermothers (Daniel, 1980). There were no significantdifferences between returners and non-returnerson any of the other variables assessed duringpregnancy. Berhman (1980) indicated thathusband characteristics may be significant in in-fluencing womens' decisions to return to work.However, no significant differences were foundin this study between husbands of returners and

Transition to parenthood 481

non-returners at time 1. Comparisons betweenthe initial transitional and control (childless)group at time 1 are reported elsewhere (Lewis &Cooper, 1987). A significant 'gender by exper-imental group' interaction was reported forpressure from 'lack of time'. Pregnant womenreported less pressure than other women, whiletheir husbands reported more pressure thanother men. In addition, transitional women andmen reported more 'work overload' pressurethan other subjects at this stage. There were nosignificant group differences in other reportedpressures, or on any of the manifestations ofstress.

Changes over timeThe major stage of the analysis involved thecomparison of scores representing change fromtime 1 to time 2 in men and women in the threegroups. After examining the data to ensure thatthere was no risk of ceiling effects, differencescores between time 1 and time 2 measures werecomputed for each variable, to represent change.One way analyses of variance were then con-ducted to examine differences between these' change' scores for men and women in each ofthe three groups. As data were not obtained forwork-family pressures, or job dissatisfactionfor housewives, five groups were compared onthese variables. Only two significant results wereobtained, i.e. in relation to pressure from lack oftime and in life satisfaction.

Table 2 shows the mean scores and standarddeviations for reported pressures from lack oftime, for five groups, at time 1 and time 2, andthe mean difference scores. The impact was

greatest for transitional two-earner couples,especially mothers, while single-earner menexperienced no significant increase in pressure.The one-way ANOVA revealed significant dif-ferences in the mean change scores (F = 2-68,P < 0-04). A Tukey HSD test was performedand showed a significant difference at the 0-05level between transitional dual-earner mothers,and childless women. Although the extent of theimpact was greatest therefore for these subjects,it should be noted that the effect was partly dueto the low pressure reported by women duringpregnancy. The level of reported time pressurewas high for all new parents.

The mean scores and standard deviations forlife satisfaction at time 1 and time 2 and the meandifference scores for men and women in thethree groups are presented in Table 3. Althoughthe overall ANOVA was significant, the TukeyHSD test indicated that no two groups weresignificantly different at the 0-05 level. A furtherANOVA was therefore conducted, comparingthe change scores for the three groups, withhusbands' and wives' scores combined. TheANOVA was again significant (F = 4-37, P< 001) and the Tukey HSD confirmed that thesignificant differences were between the tran-sitional single-earner couples, and the non-tran-sitional controls. Thus, although there was somedecline in life satisfaction for transitional dual-earner women, the greatest negative impact onlife satisfaction was for women and men whohad originally intended to resume a two-earnerlifestyle, but who had changed their plans.

Pre-test and post-tests scores for the otherstress manifestation variables for each group

Table 2. Pressure from 'lack of time for all I need to do\ before and after the transition,mean scores and standard deviations

Dual-earnersFemaleMale

Single-earnersMale

ControlsFemaleMale

Time

Mean

2-30300

3 06

2-902-18

1

S.D.

1-351-52

1-38

1-681-33

Time

Mean

3-503-73

3-26

2-812-77

2

S.D.

1141 15

1-54

1-401-23

Mean difference

Score

1-200-73

0-20

- 0 0 90-59

SD.

1-55140

0-94

1101-33

482 5. N. C. Lewis and C. L. Cooper

are presented in Table 4. There were nosignificant group differences in amount ofchange on any of these variables. Repeatedmeasures t tests were also used to examine thedata for significant changes from time 1 to time2 for each group. No further significant changeswere found.

New pressuresThe next stage in the analysis was to compareself-reported pressures, specifically associatedwith the combining of parenting and employ-ment, for dual-earner mothers and fathers. The

mean scores and standard deviations for thesepressures are presented in Table 5. Womenreported significantly more pressure than menfor seven out of eight items, the exception being'effort of arranging childcare'. For mothers,'conflicting demands of work and family','feelings of guilt and anxiety' and 'shortage oftime in the morning' were all sources ofconsiderable pressure.

ChildcareTable 6 indicates the pattern of distribution ofresponsibility for childcare. Predictably, a much

Table 3. Life satisfaction scores before and after the transition, and difference scores

Before After

Mean Mean

Difference

Mean s.D

Dual-earnersFemaleMale

Single-earnersFemaleMale

ControlsFemaleMale

28-3426-46

28-5227-66

26-6327-5

2-443-53

2-872-63

4-62406

26-3026-07

250624-20

27-1326-72

4-383-90

6-936-75

4-293-26

- 2 0 4-0-39

-3-46-3-46

0-5-0-77

4-333-64

6-726-90

3-592-68

Table 4. Job dissatisfaction and mental health scores, before and after the transition

Time 1 Time 2 Time 1 Time 2

Dual-earnersFemaleMale

Single-earnerFemaleMale

ControlsFemaleMale

Dual-earnersFemaleMale

Single-earnersFemaleMale

ControlsFemaleMale

Mean

4-114-69

386

5094-40

5-263-80

6-333-26

6003-40

S.D. Mean

Job dissatisfaction

1-531-61

1-59

1-651-33

4-264-61

4-53

4-904-36

Anxiety

3-48 5-462-82 3-38

4-302-78

3-223-29

5-403-73

4-95313

S.D.

1-531-67

1-76

190162

3-90300

3-772-73

2-662-53

Mean

4-303-96

5-203-93

4-95309

2-80219

2-932-46

2-702-36

S.D. Mean

Somatic Symptoms

4-721-84

4-612-78

3-342-84

4-924-88

4-933-73

4-90309

Depression

205 2-692-29 2-76

1-872-20

2102-47

313313

2-551-72

S.D.

3-86316

3-782-63

2-922-87

1-892-68

1-921-72

1-701-90

Transition to parenthood 483

Table 5. Pressures associated with combining parenting and employment, for new dual-earnerparents

Female Male

Variable Mean

2-50

2-73

184

1-88

2-07

2-76

2-88

219

S.D.

1-39

1-21

104

1-24

0-97

1-36

1 30

113

Mean

1-84

2 11

1-30

115

1-57

203

1-61

1 69

S.D.

0-92

0-99

0-88

0-46

0-75

0-99

0-69

0-78

(independent)

1-99

200

200

2-81

206

2-20

4-37

1-85

P

<005

<005<005< 0008<004<003

< 0001NS

Work interfering with relationship with child

Conflicting responsibilities associated with family and careerFeeling I have to perform better than people with no childrenPrejudiceEffects of child on workShortage of time in the morningGuilt/anxiety about child while I am at workEffort of childcare

Table 6. Responsibility for childcare tasks

Dual-earners Single-earners

N

20160

16

%

38-4

30-8

030-8

N

24600

%

802000

Wife is largely responsibleWe share responsibilityHusband is largely responsiblePaid help is largely responsible

larger proportion of housewives than employedwomen took major responsibility for childcare.Of the two-earner spouses, 30-8% reportedsharing responsibility for childcare, indicatingsome shift towards equality, but nevertheless38-4% of mothers reported having major re-sponsibility for childcare in addition to theirfull-time employment. For 30-8 % of employedspouses, the burden of childcare was taken overby paid help. In no cases did either spouseindicate that the husband had major childcareresponsibility.

Atypical reactions - case studyThe presentation of group data presumes homo-geneity in the pattern of change (Sidman, 1952;Bakan, 1954). Several research workers havenoted that any general conclusions suggestingthat the transition to parenthood has onlymoderate consequences requires careful quali-fication in view of the minority of cases showingmore severe impact (Elliott et al. 1983; Mosset al. 1986). In order to examine individualvariations all mental health, job dissatisfaction

and life satisfaction scores were graphed foreach transitional subject at time 1 and time 2.Although the impact of the transition wasminimal for the sample as a whole, it wasevident that the statistical results concealedconsiderable individual differences. The possi-bility that these differences might be attributableto variables such as type of childcare, oroccupational status, was investigated by thecomparisons of subgroup scores. However,these subgroups contained very small numbers,and no significant differences emerged. Futureresearch using a larger sample is, therefore,necessary to clarify this issue. In the presentstudy, individual cases for which the decline inlife satisfaction was greater than the mean plusone standard deviation were selected for furtherexamination. In most cases greater than averagechange on other variables was also evident. Anexample of one case study is presented below.

Mrs X was a VDU operator who returned to workwhen her baby was six months old, primarily forfinancial reasons. In addition to a marked decline inlife satisfaction, she also reported considerably moredepression, and a large increase in somatic symptoms.Her difficulties were related primarily to childcareproblems, a non-supportive work environment, and atraditional division of labour at home. Her baby wascared for during the day by her mother who livedseveral miles away. She reported that she began eachday at 5 am in order to complete the houseworkbefore taking the baby by bus to her mother's home,and arriving at work on time. If she was late for workshe was criticized, and had once been given a warningby her supervisor, after arriving five minutes late forwork twice in one week. She was concerned about her

484 S. N. C. Lewis and C. L. Cooper

health problems, and stated ' I've had a lot of coldsand 'flu because I've been doing a lot of runningaround, and I haven't had the chance to get better, Iwas much healthier before'.

While inconvenient childcare arrangementswere obviously a source of great stress in thiscase, this was not a characteristic of all the casesof atypical reaction. For example, one wife in afamily who employed a full-time nanny alsomanifested a deterioration in life satisfactionand mental health indicating a high level ofstress.

DISCUSSION

This study set out to examine the impact of thetransition to parenthood on occupational stressfor dual-earner couples. In spite of early pro-posals that the birth of a first child constitutesa crisis for traditional single-earner couples(LeMasters, 1957; Dyer, 1963), later studiesconcluded that new parenthood requires someadaptation but is not a severe crisis (Hobbs &Cole, 1976; Moss et al. 1986). The findings ofthe present study support this view in relation todual-earner subjects. The transition to dual-earner parenthood presented some difficulties,but was not characterized by extreme stress forthe majority of subjects.

A major issue for new dual-earner parentsconcerned time pressures involved in adaptingto new demands. Even single-earner subjectsexperience pressure in relation to time allocation,although this has usually been expressed asdissatisfaction with time available to spend withtheir spouses (Moss et al. 1986). Clearly, theaddition of the demands of parenting to the full-time employment roles of both spouses mayproduce considerable overload, unless someflexibility can be achieved.

Research with traditional families has re-peatedly indicated that the birth of a first childhas a greater impact on mothers than fathers(Hobbs & Cole, 1976; Hobbs & Wimbush,1977), and that a patriarchal division of rolesfrequently accompanies new parenthood evenamong middle-class, egalitarian families(Entwiste & Doering, 1980; La Rossa & LaRossa, 1981). Similar effects were evident in thepresent study, in spite of wives' pursuing full-time employment. While there was a trend

towards the sharing of childcare responsibility indual-earner families, it is revealing that over one-third of mothers, and no fathers, reported majorresponsibility. Almost one-third of parents re-ported that paid help undertook major childcareresponsibility. However, it is important to notethat such help often tends to replace the fathers'contributions, while mothers retain overall execu-tive responsibility, delegating day to day care(Paloma & Garland, 1971). It has been arguedthat gender inequality within the family isdeclining, particularly among middle-class,dual-career couples (Rapoport & Rapoport,1971). However, the present findings supportmounting evidence that in spite of the increasinginvolvement of many dual-earner husbands inchildcare, the distribution of domestic responsi-bility still tends to be along traditional lines,irrespective of social class (Brannen & Moss,1987; Edgell, 1980; Pleck, 1985). The muchgreater work-parenting conflicts and pressuresreported by new mothers than fathers alsoreflect the greater impact of the transition forwomen, and illustrate the effects of societalconsensus concerning the primacy of maternalresponsibilities (Russo, 1976; Martin & Roberts,1984). While there may be some questioning ofmothers' primary childcare responsibilityamong dual-earners, the expense of substitutechildcare still tends to be regarded as a chargeon women's earnings rather than householdincome (Brannen & Moss, 1987). The availabilityof maternity, but not paternity, leave is likely toreinforce such beliefs, while patterns of childcareresponsibilities established during the mothers'leave are often perpetuated after her return toemployment (LaRossa & LaRossa, 1981).

In spite of time pressures for new dual-earnerparents, and conflicts for mothers in particular,the transition was not marked by an increase insymptoms of stress. Job satisfaction and mentalhealth were not significantly affected for themajority of subjects. There was some decline inlife satisfaction for dual-earner mothers, whichmay be due to their greater overload, or todissatisfaction with their partners' contributionto domestic roles (Lewis & Cooper, 1987).However, the deterioration was most significantfor transitional single-earner parents. This couldbe interpreted as indicating that the return to adual-earner lifestyle protects certain couplesagainst the stress of adapting to new parenthood

Transition to parenthood 485

in a traditional context. Alternatively, thesingle-earner couples may have been moredissatisfied because their expectations of return-ing were not met, or because they had inadequatetime to prepare the necessary coping strategiesfor adjusting to their new lifestyle. Furtherresearch, including a sample of transitionalcouples in which the wife intends to leave paidwork, would clarify the issue of whether it is thereturn to work or the meeting of expectationswhich protects against stress.

As in previous research (Elliott et al. 1983;Moss et al. 1986), the conclusion that thetransition to parenthood involves only a moder-ate impact requires qualification, due to evidenceof a minority of cases of more adverse conse-quences. For a small number of subjects, mostlybut not exclusively women, the transition todual-earner parenthood was characterized byextreme stress. While no clear and consistentvariables were identified to explain these re-sponses, potentially modifiable factors such as' lack of adequate childcare', or ' unsupportiveemployers' may play an important role andshould be the focus of future investigations.

The conclusions which can be drawn fromthis study are limited by a number of factors. Adisproportionate number of families in thissample used home-based childcare, whichprotects dual-earners against stress (Lewis &Cooper, 1987). However, this may not be totallyunrepresentative of continuous dual-earners, asthe shortage of childcare facilities in the UK(Lockwood & Knowles, 1984) is likely to forcemany couples to use care of this nature, andprevent other women from resuming full-timeemployment. A study of the transition toparenthood for couples using a variety ofchildcare facilities, including workplace crechesand good quality nurseries, may have importantimplications for future practice. The relativelyshort duration of the study may also mask thefull impact of the transition, as high stress in aperiod expected to be stressful is less likely tolead to short-term dissatisfaction (Sykes &Eden, 1985). Ideally, therefore, the impact of thetransition should be assessed at a number ofstages over a longer period of time. Finally, anomothetic approach, based on questionnaires,has limitations (Firth, 1985). Future researchutilizing more qualitative methodology, wouldbe useful in extending our understanding of the

personal experiences of the transition, for dual-earners.

Within these constraints, however, it appearsthat the transition to parenthood is not inevitablystressful for dual-earner couples, although themajor burden tends to fall on women, and thereare examples of extreme stress in some cases. Inview of the possibility that the return toemployment may protect certain couples againststress, future research should also include posi-tive aspects of the transition and should examinethe possible occupational and social factorswhich may facilitate the transition, minimizestress and maximize satisfaction for continuousdual-earner couples.

REFERENCESBakan, D. (1954). A generalization of Sidman's results on group

and individual function and criterion. Psychological Bulletin 51,63-64.

Behrman, D. L. (1980). Family and/or Career: Plans of First TimeMothers. UMI Research Press: Ann Arbor, Michegan.

Belsky, J., Spanier, G B. & Rovine, M. (1983). Stability and changein marriage across the transition to parenthood. Journal ofMarriage and the Family 45, 567-577.

Boulton, M. G. (1983). On Being a Mother. A Study of Women withPreschool Children. Tavistock London.

Brannen, J. & Moss, P. (1987). Dual earner households: women'sfinancial contributions after the birth of the first child. In Give andTake in Families (ed. J. Brannen and G. Wilson), pp. 75-95.Allen & Unwin: London.

Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. (1978). Social Origins of Depression:A Study of Psychiatric Disorder in Women. Tavistock: London.

Chassin, L., Zeiss, A., Cooper, K. & Reaven, J. (1985). Roleperceptions, self-role congruence and marital satisfaction in dualworker couples with pre-school children. Social PsychologyQuarterly 48, 301-311

Crown, S. & Crisp, A. H. (1979). Manual of the Crown CrispExperiential Index Hodder and Stoughton: Kent.

Cutrona, C. E. (1985). Social support and stress in the transition toparenthood. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 93, 378-390.

Daniel, W. W. (1980). Maternity Rights. The Experience of Women.Policy Studies Unit: London.

Davidson, M. & Cooper, C. L. (1983). Stress and the WomanManager. Blackwell: Oxford

Dyer, E. D. (1963). Parenthood as crisis: a restudy. Marriage andFamily Living 25, 196-201.

Edgell, S. (1980). Middle Class Couples: A study of Domination, andInequality in Marriage Allen & Unwin: London

Elliott, S. A., Rugg, A. J., Watson, J. P. & Brough, D. I. (1983).Mood changes during pregnancy and after the birth of a child.British Journal of Clinical Psychology 22, 295-308.

Elliott, S. A , Watson, J. P. & Brough D.I. (1985). Transition toparenthood in British couples. Journal of Reproductive and InfantPsychology 3, 28-39.

Entwistle, D. R. & Doenng, S. G. (1980). The First Birth. JohnsHopkins Press: Baltimore

Feldman, H. (1974). Changes in marriage and parenthood; amethodological design. In Pronatalism: The Myth of Man andApple Pie (ed. E. Peck and J. Senderowitz), pp. ?.06-226. ThomasV. Cowell: New York

Feldman, S. S. & Nash, S. C. (1984). The transition from expectancyto parenthood: impact of the first born child on men and women.Sex Roles 11, 61-77.

486 S. N. C. Lewis and C. L. Cooper

Firth, J. (1985). The personal meanings of occupational stress.Journal of Occupational Psychology 58, 139-149.

Goldberg, D. (1978). Manual of the General Health Questionnaire.NFER Nelson: Windsor.

Hayes, J. & Hough, P. (1976). Career transition as a source ofidentity strain. In Transition' Understanding and ManagingPersonal Change (ed. J. Adams, J Hayes and B. Hopson).Martin Robertson- London.

Hobbs, D. F. (1965). Parenthood as crisis: a third study. Journal ofMarriage and the Family 27, 367-372

Hobbs, D. F. (1968). Transition to parenthood: a replication and anextension. Journal of Marriage and the Family 38, 723-731.

Hobbs, D. F. & Cole, S. P. (1976). Transition to parenthood, adecade replication. Journal of Marriage and the Family 38, 723-731

Hobbs, D. F. & Wimbush, J. M. (1977). Transition to parenthood byblack couples. Journal of Marriage and the Family 39, 677-689.

Holohan, C. K. & Gilbert, L. A. (1979). Conflict between major liferoles: Women and men in dual career couples. Human Relations32, 451-467.

Kasl, S V., Gore, S. & Cobb, S. (1975). The experience of losing ajob. reported changes in health symptoms and illness behaviour.Psychosomatic Medicine 37, 107-121.

Keith, P. M. & Schafer, R. B. (1980). Role strain and depression intwo job families. Family Relations 29, 483-488.

Lamb, M. E., Russell, G. & Sagi, A. (1983). Fatherhood and FamilyPolicy. Lawrence Erlbaum: New Jersey.

La Rossa, R. & La Rossa, M. M. (1981). Transition to Parenthood.How Infants Change Families. Sage: Beverly Hills.

LeMasters, E. E. (1957). Parenthood as crisis. Marriage and FamilyLiving 19, 352-355.

Lewis, S. N. & Cooper, C. L. (1987). Stress in dual-earner couplesand stage in the life cycle. Journal of Occupational Psychology(in the press).

Lockwood, B. & Knowles, W. (1984). Women at work in GreatBritain. In Working Women: An International Survey (ed. M. J.Davidson and C. L. Cooper), pp. 3-39. Wiley: Chichester

Martin, J & Roberts, C. (1984). Women and Employment. A LifetimePerspective. HMSO: London.

Miller, B. C. & Sollie, D. L. (1980). Normal stresses during thetransition to parenthood. Family Relations 29, 459-465.

Moss, P., Bolland, G., Foxman, R. & Owen, C. (1986). MaritalRelations during the transition to parenthood. Journal of Repro-ductive and Infant Psychology 4, 57-69.

Near, J. P., Rice, R. W. & Hunt, R. G. (1980). The relationshipbetween work and non-work domains: a review of empiricalliterature. Academy of Management Review 5, 415-429.

Office of Population Censuses and Surveys Classification (1980).HMSO: London.

Paloma, M. M. & Garland, T. N. (1971). The married professionalwoman. A study in the tolerance of domestication. Journal ofMarriage and the Family 33, 531-540.

Pleck, J. H. (1977). The work-family role system. Social Problems 24,417-427.

Pleck, J H. (1985). Working Wives/Working Husbands. Sage:California.

Pleck, J. H., Staines, G. L. & Lang, L. (1978). Work and Family Life:First Reports on Work-Family Interference and Workers FormalChild Care Arrangements, from the 1977 Quality of EmploymentSurvey. Working Paper No. 11. Wellesley College Centre forResearch on Women: Cambridge, MA.

Rapoport, R. & Rapoport, R. N. (1971). Dual Career Families.Penguin: Harmondsworth.

Rice, R. W., Near, J. P. & Hunt, R. G. (1980). The job satisfaction/life satisfaction relationship. A review of empirical research. Basicand Applied Social Psychology 1, 37-64.

Russo, N F. (1976). The motherhood mandate. Journal of SocialIssues 32, 143-154.

Sekaran, U. (1983). Factors influencing the quality of life in dual-career families. Journal of Occupational Psychology 56, 129-138.

Sekaran, U. (1985). The paths to mental health: An exploratorystudy of husbands and wives in dual career families. Journal ofOccupational Psychology 58, 129-138.

Sidman, M. (1952). A note on functional relations obtained fromgroup data. Psychological Bulletin 49, 263-269.

Spanier, G. B., Lewis, R. A. & Cole, C. L. (1975). Marital adjustmentover the family life cycle: The issue of curvilinearity. Journal ofMarriage and the Family 37, 263-275.

Sykes, I. J. & Eden, D. (1985). Transitional stress, social supportand psychological strains. Journal of Occupational Behaviour 6,293-298.

Wanous, J. P. (1980). Organizational Entry. Addley-Wesley:Reading, Mass.

Warr, P., Cook, J. & Wall, T. (1979). Scales for the measurement ofsome work attitudes and aspect of psychological well-being.Journal of Occupational Psychology 52, 129-148.