When do spouses support a career? A human capital analysis of Israeli managers and their spouses

This study examines the factors that contribute to a manager's receiving spousal support for his/her career. Two theoretical approaches-human capital and cultural norms-generate hypotheses tested on a sample of 869 men and women managers in Israel. Results of linear and logit regressions, run separately by gender, with education, earnings, age, children, religiosity, and ethnic origin as independent variables, revealed that spousal support is better explained for women than for men, and that husbands help more when it is most productive to do so. Cultural norms also contribute to explaining spousal support.