ISSR

ISSR Social Science Research Scholar - Biography

Dual-Career Location Constraints and the Choice to Live Apart: Is Committed Non-Cohabitation a Long-Term Solution or a Short-Term Band-Aid?"

My research proposal will seek funding to complete the current wave of data collection in a longitudinal survey examining the prevalence, predictors, and consequences of committed non-cohabitation among early-career economists. Between 2007-08 and 2010-11, my collaborators and I surveyed four graduating cohorts of new PhD economists as they entered the job market for the first time. While we initially planned to assess the career sacrifices associated with dual-career location constraints in this population, we found that a non-trivial proportion of the economists who responded to our survey avoided these career sacrifices by making a personal sacrifice: Between 15 and 20 percent of the economists who had a spouse or partner expected to be living apart from that person in the year after they entered the job market. The current wave of data collection will follow up with the economists in our original cohorts to learn about their experiences with committed non-cohabitation over the first three years of their careers.