A Cross-National Comparison of the Perceived Fairness of the Division of Household Labor

Abstract

There is considerable imbalance in the household division of labor in industrialized societies, where wives do an undue amount of housework. Nevertheless, many wives perceive the division of household labor as fair. Gender perspective explains this by the fact that wives with a traditional gender ideology are less likely to express a sense of unfairness. In addition to this explanation, we expect that social environments influence perceptions of fairness. That is, the average level of the division of housework in a given society influences perceptions of fairness, as individuals may use it for assessing their own situation. Using cross-national data on the household division of labor and the associated perceptions of fairness, we found that wives in countries where wives do most of the housework and where traditional gender ideologies are strong tend to report lower levels of perceived unfairness, even when they do most of the housework, work long hours, and have a high educational attainment.

What Determines the Perception of Fairness Regarding Household Division of Labor between Spouses?

“…Several theories have been proposed to explain the coexistence of inequity in housework and perceived fairness. These theories include: 1) economic resource theory; 2) time constraint theory; 3) gender value theory; and 4) relative deprivation theory [ 5 ]. Economic resource theory hypothesizes that the division of household labor and the associated perception of fairness depend on the balance of economic resource of the spouses [ 5 ].…”

“…Wives often do the majority of housework in dual-income households even when they work as much as their husbands in paid work [ 1 ]. The inequitable household division of labor is observed not only in those countries such as Japan where gender values are more conservative, but also in those countries such as North America and northern Europe where gender values are more egalitarian [ 2 – 5 ]. Yet, it is known that most women in those regions define their share of household chores as “fair” [ 5 – 7 ].…”

“…It is known that women in advanced post-industrial societies do most of the household chores, and the majority of women find it fair [ 5 – 7 ]. A number of theories have been proposed to account for the perception of fairness against the backdrop of objective inequity observed in Japan and elsewhere.…”

Sense of fairness in the division of labor in close relationships: Procedure and gender role ideology

“…According to the review of Mikula (1998), the fact that women do not have a strong sense of unfairness is a challenge for researchers and is a motivation to conduct empirical research on the perception of fairness in the division of household work. This question, which puzzles researchers, remains a focus of discussion as a paradox to be resolved (Dixon & Wetherell, 2004; Fuwa & Tsutsui, 2010).…”

“…(E-mail: lt106038@ ed.ritsumei.ac.jp) perception of fairness in the division of household work. This question, which puzzles researchers, remains a focus of discussion as a paradox to be resolved (Dixon & Wetherell, 2004;Fuwa & Tsutsui, 2010).…”