Trailing spouse: Difference between revisions
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The phenomena of expat trailing spouses is most apparent in the [[military]], [[diplomatic]], and other [[government]] communities as well as the [[private sector]] where the employer regularly re-assigns their employees to new locations. In each case, the trailing spouse is required to relocate and as a result faces a range of issues that impact their personal and working lives. |
The phenomena of expat trailing spouses is most apparent in the [[military]], [[Diplomacy|diplomatic]], and other [[government]] communities as well as the [[private sector]] where the employer regularly re-assigns their employees to new locations. In each case, the trailing spouse is required to relocate and as a result faces a range of issues that impact their personal and working lives. |
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== Issues== |
== Issues== |
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Revision as of 17:48, 15 January 2013
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2010) |
The term trailing spouse is used to describe a person who follows his or her life partner to another city because of a work assignment. The term is often associated with people involved in an expatriate assignment but is also used by academia on domestic assignments.
The earliest citation of the term trailing spouse is attributed to Mary Bralove in the Wall Street Journal (July 15, 1981) in an article titled “Problems of Two-Career Families Start Forcing Businesses to Adapt” p. 29:
Another personnel man remembers the promising executive he lost because her husband was a dentist who couldn’t find a good practice to join in the area. To cope with this problem, some 150 northern New Jersey employers participate in an employer job bank. The bank is designed to provide job leads for “the trailing spouse” of a newly hired or transferred executive.
The phenomena of expat trailing spouses is most apparent in the military, diplomatic, and other government communities as well as the private sector where the employer regularly re-assigns their employees to new locations. In each case, the trailing spouse is required to relocate and as a result faces a range of issues that impact their personal and working lives.
Issues
- Dual-career challenges - Whereby the trailing spouse suspends or gives up their career to follow the lead partner on their assignment.
- Family issues - Stresses caused by social, financial and cultural strains placed on the family relationships as a result of the assignment.
- Barriers to mobility - The willingness or otherwise of the trailing spouse or other family members to relocate. Lack of support by the sponsoring employer to address the needs of the trailing spouse.
- Work/life challenges - Difficulties associated with finding and maintaining meaningful work or other sense of worth while on assignments.
- Loss of identity - Difficulties associated with loss of identity and the subsequent period of reshape and remodelling that ensues in the new environment.[1]
- Gender - Experiences and issues facing male trailing spouse vary from those faced by females.[2]
References
- ^ "The Trailing Spouse No Longer Need Be Such A Drag". ExpatArrivals.com.
- ^ "Adaptation of Trailing Spouses: Does Gender Matter?". Anne M. Braseby - Florida International University.