1. The Division of Household Labor
Family Sociology
April 28, 2017

2. Why study the division of household labor?
Research on housework has implications for gender inequality in both the work and family spheres
Good example of the inter-relationship between two social institutions, the economy and families
Research on housework also highlights the interplay between the micro and macro levels
Study of housework shows how gender is socially constructed
April 28, 2017

3. Why study the division of household labor?
Unequal social change:
Major change in one social institution
-- the economy -- increase in the percentage of married women and mothers in the labor force
is not met by similar change in
-- families -- in the amount of household labor performed by married men/fathers
April 28, 2017

4. Why study the division of household labor?
Unequal social change:
In other words – married women and mothers have taken on more paid work responsibility but still devote more time to unpaid family work
While men have not “taken up the slack” at home in equal amounts of time or responsibility
April 28, 2017

5. Division of Household Labor
Today we’ll examine the time spent on housework
By wives and husbands
By teen girls and boys
April 28, 2017

6. Division of Household Labor
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports:
6 in 10 women over age 16 were in the paid labor force
61 % of mothers with children under age 3 are in the paid labor force
April 28, 2017

7. Labor Force participation rates for married women, by age of youngest child
Under age 6
Ages
Ages 6-17
Under Age 6
April 28, 2017

8. Has Women’s Labor Force Participation Slowed?
Recent article in the NY Times states “Stretched to the Limit, Women Stall March to Work”
Argument is that without more help with housework, working mothers have “hit a wall”
The increase in women’s labor force participation has helped fuel economic growth
Source: New York Times, 3/2/2006
April 28, 2017

9. Paid Labor Force Participation
So today about 75 percent of women ages are in the paid labor force or actively seeking work
Up from 40 percent in the late 1950s
This trend flattened in the 1990s
Since 2000 the labor force participation rate has declined somewhat
Source: New York Times, 3/2/2006
April 28, 2017

10. Unpaid work: The good news
According to a survey by John Robinson
From 1965 to 1985 the time men spent on household labor doubled from 4.6 hours per week to 10 hours per week
Over the same period, women reduced their time spent in housework from 27 hours to 20 hours
April 28, 2017

11. Unpaid work: The bad news
It appears men are doing a larger proportion of housework and child care, but much of this change was due to women reducing their time on housework
Numerous studies based on different data sources show wives still perform about 2/3 of housework, even when they work full-time
April 28, 2017

12. Unpaid work: The bad news
Data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) collected from 6,882 husbands and wives on hours spent on 9 household chores
April 28, 2017

13. Mean Number of Hours Spent on 9 Household Tasks per Week by Dual-Earner Spouses
April 28, 2017
Source: NSFH, 1993

14. Household Chores and Gender
What do you notice about the chart?
Who spends more time on chores?
Who does more of the chores?
And remember these are couples who BOTH have paid jobs
4/28/2017

15. Unpaid work: The bad news
Wives do a greater number of tasks than husbands
And they spend more time on housework
On average, dual-earner wives spent 32 hours each week on 9 household tasks
Dual-earner husbands spent only 19 hours per week on same tasks
April 28, 2017

16. Unpaid work: The bad news
These same wives spent on average 40 hours per week in paid labor
While, husbands spent 44 hours per week in paid labor
In sum, wives spent a total of 72 hours per week in paid and unpaid labor, while husbands spent 63 hours in paid and unpaid labor combined
April 28, 2017

17. April 28, 2017

18. Unpaid work: The bad news
In other words, dual-earner wives spent 9 more hours per week working than their husbands
This adds up to 36 hours per month
Arlie Hochschild calls wives’ extra work the “Second Shift”
April 28, 2017

19. Unpaid work: The worse news
Given significant changes in women’s lives:
1) Higher labor force participation rates
2) Changing attitudes toward more gender equality
3) Greater educational opportunities for girls…
we might expect less gendered division of housework among children?
April 28, 2017

20. Youth Time Use
In the next chart, I show findings from my research on household labor participation by high school students
These data are from the Youth Development Survey
They interviewed all 9th grade high school students in the St. Paul MN school system, and then followed them through h.s. and beyond
4/28/2017

21. Weekly hours Spent by Teens on Household Tasks, Grades 9 & 12
April 28, 2017

22. Mean Hours Spent on Selected Activities – Grade 9
April 28, 2017
Source: Youth Development Survey

23. Unpaid work: The worse news
In ninth grade, girls spend more time on paid work, homework, and housework than boys
Boys spend more time on extra-curricular activities across high school
Teen girls are already learning to multi-task by ninth grade
Girls and boys are growing up to expect a gendered and unfair division of labor
April 28, 2017

24. Unpaid work: The bad news
At the same time, NSFH data also show that:
90 percent of wives and 81 percent of husbands agree with the question “If couples work full-time should they share household tasks equally?”
72 percent of dual-earner husbands and 66 percent of dual-earner wives say the division of household labor is fair to both spouses
But we just saw that they don’t divide the housework equally!
What explains these conflicting data?
April 28, 2017

25. Wives' & Husbands' Perceptions of Fairness of the Division of Household Labor
April 28, 2017

26. Why do couples say things should be equal?
My research shows that women compare their division of labor to other women they know i.e. sisters, friends, co-workers
Most of these women also do more housework, so by comparison, things don’t seem unfair
If they compared themselves to their husbands, then they might say “hey this isn’t fair!” (Gager, 1998)
Couples I interviewed also made justifications like men just cannot do laundry or women are not good at mowing the lawn?
Really – is a washer and dryer so hard to use?
4/28/2017

27. Sex and Housework Link
April 28, 2017

28. The Second Shift
Arlie Hochschild reviews data on the division of household labor
Shows that women are working a “second shift” of housework, after they work at their paid job
She also talks about how wives compare themselves to other women – not to their own husbands
April 28, 2017

29. The Second Shift What is the stalled revolution? Unequal social change
Women have been steadily moving toward equality in paid work
BUT
Men are not moving as quickly toward doing equal amount of housework/child care in the home
April 28, 2017

30. The Second Shift Joey’s Problem: Nancy & Evan Holt
How did you answer the questions for Assignment 8?
Hochschild describes the family myths used by couple Nancy and Evan Holt
In other words, she tells the story they make up about their division of labor but what is the real story according to Hochschild?
April 28, 2017

31. The Second Shift Joey’s Problem: Nancy & Evan Holt See Assignment 8?
1. According to Hochshcild, what is the “Second Shift?”
2. Briefly describe the story of Evan and Nancy Holt.
3. Hochschild argues that families create “myths” about their division of household labor. Describe the family myth created by Nancy and Evan Holt.
April 28, 2017

32. The Second Shift Joey’s Problem: Nancy & Evan Holt Assignment 8?
4. According to Hochschild, what is the purpose of family myths?
5. Was this reading surprising to you and why? How do you imagine you will divide family work (including child care) in your own marriage or cohabitation?
April 28, 2017

33. Families and unpaid work: Where do we go from here?
Summary
Girls and women perform more household labor than their male peers – even when they work full-time
Hochschild calls this the “Second Shift”
If women and girls continue to do more unpaid labor, will we see real change in gender inequality at the macro and micro levels?
If we do not close the gender gap at home, can we close the gender gap at work?
April 28, 2017