Working Wife: Burden or Blessing?

28 studies in the period 1952-2007 in which both the happiness of working women and housewives were object of study are reviewed here to find out if women are happier when they work or when they stay at home. The reviewed studies give no univocal answer about the effect of work on happiness of women in general. There is almost as much evidence for a positive as there is for a negative effect as for no difference between women who work and women who stay at home. Most studies on mothers show employment has a positive effect or no effect on their happiness. Intervening variables like parental status, marital status, education and role and value orientation influence the effect, sometimes in interaction with each other. Other variables like social status, participation and occupational status of the partner, number of working hours and age have no effect on the relation between a women¿s employment status and her happiness.