Expat Spouse

Summary: An expat spouse, or trailing spouse, is the married partner of an expatriate employee transferred or hired to work abroad.

An expat spouse, or trailing spouse, is the married partner of an expatriate employee transferred or hired to work abroad.

Historically, trailing spouses have been a largely female population, but this has changed over time as more male expat spouses follow their wives abroad.

Spousal and family adjustment on the success of an expatriate assignment has been consistently shown to be significant in expatriate research. Some multi-national corporations, governments and organizations have attempted to compensate for this by investing in more resources as part of the expat packages they provide to their expat employees and their families.

Expat Exchange Articles:

Moving Overseas Guide: The Expat Spouse

Trailing Spouse As A Chameleon

External Articles and Research:

SHRM: Increasing the Success Rate of Expatriates

IOR: Following her job to Tokyo? Challenges facing the expat male trailing spouse.

BBC: The Reluctant Expat Spouse

Graduate Thesis Paper: Spousal adjustment impacts international assignment succes.

About the Author

Joshua Wood, LPC joined Expat Exchange in 2000 and serves as one of its Co-Presidents. He is also one of the Founders of Digital Nomad Exchange. Prior to Expat Exchange, Joshua worked for NBC Cable (MSNBC and CNBC Primetime). Joshua has a BA from Syracuse and a Master's in Clinical and Counseling Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Mr. Wood is also a licensed counselor and psychotherapist.