Abstract: We use a randomized control trial to assess how employment affects the wellbeing of the household – as distinct from effects on the individual supplying the labor. We work with 2513 households in the world’s largest refugee camp, and randomly assign the husband or wife to an employment intervention. We also include cash and unpaid work treatment arms in order to disentangle underlying channels driving the employment effects we observe. While gainful employment delivers comparable psychosocial benefits to both men and women, spillovers are asymmetric: households in which men are treated fare significantly better as measured by psychosocial wellbeing and domestic violence for both partners. Our results are consistent with individuals preferring that their families inhabit traditional gender norms and motivate caution in the distribution and targeting of social protection programs.

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