Female Labor Force Participation and Welfare if Status Conscious with Multiple Reference Groups

I develop a model with status concerns to analyze how different economic factors affect female participation, average household income and wage, as well as the welfare of both stay-at-home and working wives. Reductions in the price of domestic goods and increases in female wages have positive effects on female participation. Increases in male wages have different effects on female participation depending on whether they affect female wages or not. Events that lead to increases in female participation are usually associated with decreases in the welfare of stay-at-home wives, but are not necessarily associated with increases in welfare of working wives