The Impact of Household Income Differences on the Division of Unpaid Work in the Household

Abstract

The balance between paid and unpaid work is slowly recovering as the concept of equality progress and women's voice is further strengthened, and women are no longer taken for granted as sole bearers of home care activities, without having to sacrifice paid work hours to cater to the need for unpaid work at home. Although men are also disproportionately involved in-home care activities, women are nonetheless responsible for most of the day-to-day household chores and care for family members. The heavy burden of family care makes women dissatisfied with the existing division of labour, which in turn leads to many family disputes. This paper adopts the research method of questionnaire survey, takes Chinese middle-aged families as the survey object, selects income as the main research factor, and discusses the impact of family income on family unpaid labor. The results show that with the increase in family income, the total time spent on unpaid work in the family presents a trend of first decreasing and then increasing, and children and residence also affect the distribution of unpaid work in the family along with the income. Although the research sample of this paper is relatively limited, it will still provide relevant enlightenment for family sociology research.