Trailing Spouse
entry by Julie M. Marx, Global Family Expert at Expat Valley
Trailing Spouse is an older, widely used term for the partner who follows an assignee to a new location because of a work-related move, typically leaving or reducing their own employment in the process. In contemporary global mobility practice the term is increasingly recognized as gendered and passive, with a shift toward the more neutral and agency-respecting Accompanying Partner.
Comparable terms
Accompanying Partner (less controversial, generally accepted term); Expat Partner (community and coaching)
Why this matters
Including Trailing Spouse in the glossary is important because the term still appears in research, policy documents, and community narratives, even as many practitioners are moving away from it. Understanding its history and limitations helps organizations and families adopt language that better reflects shared decision-making, dual careers, and the active contribution of partners to assignment success.
Cross-references
Accompanying Partner (Transitions & Mobility); Accompanying Partner Career Disruption (Family Dynamics); Dual-Career Couple (Family Dynamics). Trailing Spouse names the legacy framing of the role that is reframed as Accompanying Partner in this vocabulary, with Accompanying Partner Career Disruption and Dual-Career Couple detailing the structural and career impacts that the older term tended to hide.
Sources
Harvey’s work on dual‑career expatriates and trailing spouses remains foundational for understanding how partner careers shape willingness to relocate and the risk of assignment failure. In particular, Harvey, M. G. (1997). Dual‑career expatriates: Expectations, adjustment and satisfaction with international relocation. Journal of International Business Studies. and Harvey, M. G., & Wiese, D. (1998). The dual‑career couple: Female expatriates and male trailing spouses. Thunderbird International Business Review. analyzes the ‘trailing spouse’ experience within dual‑career couples and shows that the partner’s career sacrifice and adjustment difficulties generate significant stress and can undermine both the assignment and the relationship. In Cooke, T. J. (2001). “Trailing wife” or “trailing mother”? Family migration, life‑course events, and the labor‑market participation of married women. Environment and Planning A., the author extends this conversation into domestic and regional migration, demonstrating long‑term penalties to women’s labor‑market participation when they move for a partner’s career and highlighting how parental status further constrains options. More recent reviews of expatriate family adjustment synthesize evidence that partner and child adjustment have strong crossover and spillover effects on the assignee’s own adjustment and performance, underscoring that the ‘trailing spouse’ is a central stakeholder in assignment outcomes rather than a peripheral dependent. Together these sources both explain why the term Trailing Spouse emerged historically and why many practitioners now prefer Accompanying Partner as a less gendered, more agency‑respecting alternative.
A two-tiered Family Support Program
Client Profile Industry: Aviation & Aerospace Headquarters: USA Company Size: Global enterprise with over 100,000 employees worldwide Mobility Program Size: 10-49 international assignments/year Geographic Scope of Assignment Footprint: Global, with primary operational hubs and international corporate stations spanning the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), and APAC (Asia-Pacific). The Challenge:...
Read moreStory 12 of 52 /// The memories so distant
You were born in China, but you were only twenty months old when we repatriated. That time seems so long ago, the memories so distant. Literally. We moved back to the small town we came from, and rarely tell the stories of our international assignment as the experience is so...Read moreWhen ‘Home’ Is Two Places: How Global Families Decide Where Vacation Time Goes
Rodrigo is planning the family’s summer vacation. What should feel fun and exciting is starting to feel like an exercise in frustration and self-doubt. Two years ago, he and Marcela moved with their sons, Benjamín and Tomás, from Chile to Calgary for Marcela’s job. Back then, the idea of living...Read moreExploring the Decision to Live Apart
“Is This Right for Us?” The opportunity came with just two weeks to decide. Marc had been offered a role he’d been working toward for years: regional director for his company’s Asia-Pacific operations. It was a career leap, complete with relocation support and a three-year contract in Singapore. But when...Read moreBeyond the Windmills: Read & Watch for True Dutch Insight
Beyond the Windmills: Read & Watch for True Dutch Insight When you move to a new country, it’s easy to get stuck on the surface-level postcards of tulips, clogs, and picturesque canal houses. But to truly understand your new neighbors, you need to dig into the stories they share. You...Read moreOur Top 10 Global Family Favorites in the Netherlands
(And the Bargains to Get You There) To truly feel at home in the Netherlands, you need to master a vital cultural ritual: the hunt for a korting (discount). The Dutch absolutely love a good bargain, and honestly, why shouldn’t they? Exploring this beautiful country with your family is incredible,...Read moreNavigating Neurodiversity and Medical Complexity Abroad: Advocacy, Inclusion, and Support
Introduction: The Unseen Layers of Global Mobility While the physical relocation of a family is complex in its own right, moving across borders with neurodiversity or medical complexity adds profound, often invisible layers to the journey. A core premise of this session was that individuals should not be excluded from...Read moreStory 2 of 52 /// After you hang up the phone, you decline the offer
Imagine being a medical researcher from India, not just any, but the type that is at the stage of their career to lead medical breakthroughs. Now imagine receiving a phone call, a job offer to come work in the Netherlands for the most prestigious company in your field. The contract...Read moreInclusion in Global Family Life
Creating Belonging Across Difference On their first Monday morning in a new country, the Rahman-Lewis family arrived at the school gate carrying too many things. There were lunchboxes, water bottles, half-completed forms, a school bag that would not quite close, and a folder of documents that Maya had been told...Read moreBridging the Social-Emotional Gap
Designing a Culture of Care for School Transitions When the moving containers are finally unpacked, many organizations consider a relocation "complete." However, for the families at the center of these moves, the true work of grounding is just beginning. In our latest Roundtable for Experts & Educators, we moved beyond...Read more1 2 3 … 5 Next »