The quality of marriage and the passage of time: marital satisfaction over the family life cycle*

This paper examines the effect of the passage of time on the quality of marriage. A devel- opmental approach is employed and marital satisfaction and happiness among a sample of Calgarian couples are assessed over the family life cycle. The evidence reveals a consistent pattern, showing a curvilinear association between marital satisfaction and stage in the family life cycle for both hus- bands and wives. Marital satisfaction declines steadily from the beginning of marriage to the period when children exit the family unit. From then on, all couples experience increased marital satisfac- tion as they move through the post-parental period into retirement. The introduction of control vari- ables revealed significant gender differences, but did not destroy the original curvilinear relationship. The data demonstrate the way in which the intersecting of family and work roles affects husbands and wives variedly as they face role strains at different transitional points in the family life cycle. Both our research strategy and the results obtained underline the unitary character of family and work relations and thus demonstrate the usefulness of conceptualizing the family as a unit with a set of developmental task requirements inside and outside the household.