Does a university degree matter for wives? Investigating the relationship between husbands’ socioeconomic resources and wives’ labour force participation

The labour market engagement of women in traditionally oriented societies is frequently constrained by their husbands’ socioeconomic resources. The rise in women’s educational attainment plays a pivotal role in reshaping the gender-based division of labour and enhancing their labour force participation. Drawing on nationally representative cross-sectional data from the Turkish Income and Living Conditions Survey (2006–2022; N = 136,874), this study examines the moderating role of wives’ educational attainment in the association between husbands’ socioeconomic resources (income and education) and wives’ labour force participation. The interaction model reveals that the probability of labour force participation is higher for wives with university-educated husbands only among those who are university-educated themselves; in contrast, participation rates decline for non-university-educated wives. Among university-educated wives, labour force participation is markedly higher in educationally homogamous marriages than in hypogamous marriages. While the negative income effect attributed to husbands persists across both educational strata of wives, its magnitude is significantly attenuated among university-educated wives. These findings indicate that in Turkey, a university degree serves as a critical mechanism for married women to circumvent economic and cultural barriers to labour force participation, with homogamous marital unions further facilitating their engagement.