The partner penalty

Arioldi, Davide; Vroegop, Eva

doi:10.1016/j.annale.2026.100221

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Arioldi_2026_Elsevier_j.annale.2026.100221

Journal article

The partner penalty : exploring tourism jobs and life satisfaction relationships

Arioldi, Davide ORCID Istituto di ricerche economiche (IRE), Facoltà di scienze economiche, Università della Svizzera italiana, Svizzera
Vroegop, Eva Fondazione Campus, Lucca, Italy

2026

Published in:

Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights. - 2026, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 100221

English This study investigates how tourism employment affects life satisfaction — not only for workers themselves, but also for their partners — using European Social Survey data from 30 countries (2002−2022). Tourism workers report lower life satisfaction, which is largely attributable to socioeconomic factors. However, partners of tourism workers experience an even larger reduction in life satisfaction — a ‘partner penalty’ exceeding the estimated effect of divorce. This life satisfaction penalty for partners is concentrated among men and families with children, suggesting that gender norms and caregiving responsibilities play a central role. Notably, dual-tourism couples do not exhibit this penalty, consistent with shared occupational understanding. Proxy indicators suggest time-based work-family conflict, including disrupted family time and reduced social interactions, as a plausible mechanism.

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