Couples after Separation. Job Insecurity and the Change of Gender Roles in Couples in different Social Milieus II

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The proposal is based on the results of the first phase of the following project: Precarious circumstances: Insecure employment and the change of gender arrangements in couples in different social milieus. In the second phase we plan to do research on couples which have separated and where separation might have been caused by conflicts resulting from insecure employment or unemployment of the male partner. The couples we interviewed in the project's first phase were able to rearrange their partnership and adjust their gender roles. But as statistical finding on gender-untypical income relationship let assume, couples could fail under these conditions. While in the first period we tried to find out how couples were able to cope with conjugal stress caused by job precariousness, the proposed study will shift the focus to the downside and tries to find out, in which cases and under what circumstances dissolution of couples is caused by job precariousness. The second aim is to investigate patterns of dissolution in couples in different social milieus. It is assumed that crucial gender norms are veiled to both partners and are therefore beyond any means of fruitful discussion. Beyond, our findings should contribute to a general understanding about estrangement and separation. Both former partners will be interviewed separately with regard to their relationship, its crises and final deterioration. Methodical continuity is maintained by operating within the framework of milieus we already established. Significant milieus are: a) individualistic, urbane city-dwellers with academic backgrounds b) skilled workers and technicians c) clerks, semi-professionals and members of the social vocations. The investigation comprises former couples where the male partner is either unemployed or working in an atypical fashion and the female partner is the breadwinner, providing at least 60 percent of household-income. The couple should have lived together for at least 12 months in a common household before splitting up. The interviewees should be between 30 and 50 years old and therefore be in their active phase of working-life.