Higher Incomes Decrease Levels of Violence in Abusive Relationships
Improved economic opportunities for women will decrease the level of violence in abusive relationships.
So say the results of a recent study, "An Economic Analysis of Domestic Violence," co- authored by Jill Tiefenthaler, associate professor of economics at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, and Amy Farmer, associate professor of economics at the University of Tennessee. The study appears in the Fall 1997 issue of Review of Social Economy, a professional journal.
In the paper, a non-cooperative model of domestic violence is presented. The comparative statics from this model predict that women's incomes and other financial support received from outside the marriage--family, welfare, shelters, divorce settlements--will decrease the level of violence in intact families, because they increase the woman's "threat point" or next best alternative. In this case, a woman's best alternative if she leaves the relationship.
"We found that a rise in a woman's income increases the likelihood that she leaves the relationship. This increase in her threat point lowers the level of violence if she stays," says Tiefenthaler. "Anything that raises the woman's happiness or satisfaction outside of the marriage, such as the availability of services or a generous divorce settlement, will increase the probability that she leaves and, therefore, lower the level of violence if she stays."
Tiefenthaler notes that any variable which increases a woman's ties to her relationship will increase the level of violence.
"Wife abuse happens because it can happen. If women have more alternatives then it can no longer happen," says Tienfenthaler. She notes that several psychological studies suggest that women are more likely to leave battering relationship if they have better economic opportunities outside the household.
Editors & Reporters: You can reach Tiefenthaler at 315-824-7523 (office) or 315-824- 4703 (home). Farmer is at 423-974-1704 (office). Please contact Steve Infanti of Dick Jones Communications at 814-867-1963 if you would like a copy of the paper. DJC assists Colgate University with its public affairs work.
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