Stereotypes and Reality in the Division of Household Labor

Abstract

The division of labor in mixed-gender households is discussed on the basis of stereotypical expectations, as well as time-use diary data. The stereotypes as generated by 210 adults, of average age 25 years, were consistent with reality, as depicted by the diary data from an independent study. In both data sets, the image of the double shift emerged. Women were seen as doing most of the unpaid work, and tasks were gender-segregated. Expectations of women, reinforced by values and power differences, appear unchanged by women's increasing participation in paid labor. Social policies which address women's experience of paid labor therefore need to address the division of unpaid labor. Equalising unpaid labor means mobilising men to become involved in essential, but unrewarded, tasks.

An Underexamined Inequality

“…However, men’s careers are often given precedence to women’s and at home, women remain disproportionately more likely than men to take care of household and child care tasks even after spending the day doing a similar shift of paid work (Biernat & Wortman, 1991). This second shift among working mothers (Hochschild, 1989; Hochschild & Machung, 2012) is a widely documented phenomenon (e.g., Beckwith, 1992; Klute, Crouter, Sayer, & McHale, 2001). For example, a recent American Time Use Survey reveals that in families with young children, women spend 80% to 85% more time taking care of children and twice as much time on other domestic tasks as do men (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013a).…”

Household work: When gender ideologies and practices interact

“…But, inequalities in divisions of household work are also based on the labor-intensity and frequency of those tasks typically completed by women (Beckwith, 1992;Coltrane, 1990;Gunter & Gunter, 1990;Robinson & Spitze, 1992;Shaw, 1988;Shelton, 1992). Meal preparation and clean up, doing the laundry, tidying the house, and cleaning the bathroom need to be done throughout the day, or on a daily or weekly basis.…”

Domestic Stress and Well-Being of Employed Women: Interplay Between Demands and Decision Control at Home

“…Because the basic processes involved in the aetiology and consequences of stress are common to many life situations, this model may be generalized to non-work environments such as the home (Barnett, Biener, & Baruch, 1987) using the same terminology of job characteristics (job demands/burden and control). It has been argued that women have a heavier burden of housework than men do (e.g., Beckwith, 1992;Pleck, 1985), and that most "feminine" tasks (such as preparing meals, cleaning up after meals) are done on a daily basis with little control (i.e., discretion) (Barnett & Shen, 1997). Thus, from the standpoint of JDC model it has been theorized that women's domestic and family roles are stressful because they often combine high psychological demands with low control.…”