Domestic Division Of Labour Research Articles

Energy housekeeping: intersections of gender, domestic labour and technologies

Emerging energy technologies and tools aim to enhance peoples’ understanding and control over household energy. Yet, important questions are emerging about precisely whose understanding and control such technologies benefit, and how increasingly commonplace tools may shape the gendered division of domestic labour. This article explores how smart energy technologies, and in particular energy feedback, may reproduce or further entrench the unequal distribution of household labour between men and women. Theories of social practice are used to frame ethnographic research (semi-structured interviews, card game prompts and home tours) conducted with 24 Australian households using solar photovoltaics and batteries. Evidence is provided of men interpreting energy feedback for other household members, policing other householders’ energy-using practices and more broadly orchestrating patterns of energy consumption. Building on the concept of ‘digital housekeeping’, which refers to the gendered way in which domestic technologies are used and maintained, the paper suggests these practices constitute gendered forms of ‘energy housekeeping’. The energy housekeeping concept provides a means of understanding how emerging energy technologies and tools intersect with issues of gender and domestic labour. <em><strong>Practice relevance</strong></em> It is well established that domestic labour is largely performed by women. Research also shows that the use of smart technologies and energy feedback are gendered. Evidence from Australian households with solar photovoltaics and batteries shows that energy feedback and associated technologies may reinforce gender asymmetries in the home and enable men to control the domestic labour undertaken by others in the home. These outcomes are undesirable, even if they advance sector aims of aligning domestic energy consumption with patterns of renewable generation. Current energy management and feedback approaches need to engage with and be tailored for a wider, more diverse group of domestic energy users. This will better reflect the different ways that people engage with and think about energy.

The masculinization of domestic cooking: a historical study of Swedish cookbooks for men

ABSTRACT This study analyzes how men’s domestic cooking is represented and masculinized in cookbooks, written by men for men and published in 1975, 1992, and 2010, respectively. Departing from the concept of domestic masculinities, it uses the methods of Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis. It asks: what kind of values and ideas connected to men, food, and the home are realized in texts and images? And how are these legitimized and naturalized? As the study’s context is Sweden, a country known for its pursuit of gender equality, the study focuses on how men’s domestic cooking has been represented in cookbooks published roughly 20 years apart. The analysis shows that, while the first two books are characterized by a ‘real man’ discourse and working-class masculinity, the 2010 book represents a masculinity in line with a ‘new man image’ closely linked to consumption and materiality. However, structurally, there are few differences. Values associated with traditional middle-class masculinities, traditional gender norms, and gendered division of domestic labor are reproduced. Men’s cooking is recontextualized as a playful leisure activity. In all three books, cooking becomes another way for a man to appear successful – both in relation to other men and women, and in socioeconomic terms.

Couples’ division of labor and fertility in Taiwan

The rise in women’s labor force participation is fundamentally changing the nature and intensity of domestic labor and increasing concerns about the prospects for fertility, particularly in gender-inegalitarian societies. To keep pace with these changes, the gender revolution perspective argues that increasing men’s involvement in the family will reduce burdens on women and facilitate fertility recuperation. This paper investigates the effect of labor sharing on fertility. Using ten waves of data from the Taiwanese Panel Study of Family Dynamics (8,863 couple-wave observations, 1,969 couples), latent class analysis was first used to define a division of labor typology, and mixed-effects models were subsequently estimated to investigate the associations between the division of labor arrangements and fertility behavior. Although the male-breadwinner model prevailed as the most conducive to childbearing, there is an urgent imperative to improve gender equality in domestic labor given the growing trend of dual-earner families. The results highlight the importance of considering couples’ paid and unpaid labor in relation to each other and suggest that gendered divisions of domestic labor have different implications on fertility depending on employment arrangements.

The Polish family in transition: a shift towards greater gender equality?

ABSTRACT This article aims at tracking patterns of both change and consistency with regard to women’s roles in Poland, with particular focus on family roles. This paper considers whether women’s disproportionate domestic labour and childcare constitutes the so-called double burden or a successful example of work–family balance. In addressing this question, the paper considers survey evidence concerning the gap between preferred and implemented models for the division of domestic labour and childcare. Is there a strong expectation of a gendered domestic division of labour in contemporary Poland? What do women in Poland think about this? Following Ulrich Beck’s individualisation theory (2002), as well as Hakim’s preference theory (2006), this paper provides a secondary analysis of gender roles in terms of both paid work and unpaid work. In contemporary society, ‘doing family’ leads to changes in the internal structure of family. In the Polish context, however, it is unclear whether this signals a transition to full gender equality or, rather, perpetuates inequality.

Housework War: A Game Theory Exploration of Gender Norms

It has been found that the unequal division of domestic labor is often considered fair. The finding is that the main causes of gender behavior in the family are the strength of gender norms and expectations, and accountability through social interactions. Housework seems to be a manifestation of the process of internalization and socialization of gender norms. Housework can also be understood as a way for individuals to replicate their gender identity. Through interactive gender behavior, they can behave normally in the social world and avoid the negative consequences of violating gender norms. With the awakening of female consciousness, more and more men will share the responsibility of family. This article uses game theory to examine the reasons behind the long-standing unequal division of household.

Conflicts over the division of domestic work: A matter of gender-specific expectations and needs

This study investigates the frequency of conflicts over the division of domestic labor among heterosexual couples with dependent children ( N = 1597), considering the actual division of labor, perceived fairness about the division of labor, spouses’ levels of general appreciation for one another, varying preferences for housework and housekeeping standards, and role expectations. By applying actor–partner interdependence models (APIMs) to data from the representative German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (pairfam) (wave 11), we analyze actor and cross-partner effects simultaneously, allowing us to consider the concept of dyadic interdependency derived from social exchange and gender theories. Results indicate that it is not the division of labor that is decisive for conflicts in relationships, but what is perceived to be fair. While men require approval from their spouses when they deviate from normative gender standards, women need housework to not be merely thought of as their natural responsibility. The results are used to suggest how conflicts over domestic labor can be avoided among parents during the intense life phase of childcare.

Gendered Housework: Spousal Relative Income, Parenthood and Traditional Gender Identity Norms

Despite women’s increased market employment and earnings, the gender housework gap persists. Drawing on US data from 1999 to 2017 waves of Panel Study of Income Dynamics (6643 dual-earner heterosexual couples, 19,602 couple-year observations) and using couples fixed effects, this study examines the impact of having children on the relationship between partners’ housework time and spousal relative income. While parenthood could theoretically incentivize a more efficient division of labour, I find it has a traditionalizing effect and parents’ housework exhibits significant gender deviance neutralization, while housework division of childless couples is independent of relative income. In fact, these effects are so sizeable, that parents’ gender gap in the division of domestic labour increases in the higher range of women’s relative income. As the gender earnings gap closes and women’s relative income increases, the gender housework gap opens. Additionally, the traditionalizing parenthood effect is identified only among married and not cohabiting parents.

Domestic help and the gender division of domestic labor during theCOVID‐19 pandemic: Gender inequality amongJapaneseparents

The enduring COVID‐19 pandemic has gradually transformed our everyday lives. This study focuses on changes in work and family arrangements, with particular focus on changes in domestic help, and examines its impact on the division of domestic labor. Using a social survey of work and the family conducted in November 2020 and May 2021, the results show that from January 2020 (pre‐pandemic) to May 2021, approximately 40% of respondents experienced a reduced gender gap for housework and childcare, while a large gender gap is still observed in the absolute frequency of undertaking domestic labor. Some lifestyle changes triggered by the pandemic, such as an increase in the use of takeaways or delivery meals, and the expansion of working from home, are found to be able to contribute a shift toward more equal sharing of domestic labor. However, the fact that the access to such lifestyle changes is more common among those with a relatively high income or high educational background suggests that the lifestyle changes imposed by the pandemic may exacerbate class disparities in the gender gap in domestic labor. Furthermore, the results show that decreased kinship support results in a greater childcare burden being placed on women.

Gendered Division of Digital Labor in Parenting: A Qualitative Study in Urban China.

The gendered division of domestic labor is a key topic in gender and family studies. While there has been extensive discussion of time use and the division of physical, emotional, and mental labor in housework and childcare within couples, the division of digital labor in the family has not been systematically examined. Drawing on qualitative data obtained from 147 parents in 84 urban Chinese families, this study reveals prominent gender differences in digital labor in parenting by comparing urban Chinese mothers’ and fathers’ use of digital technology and media in searching for parenting information, maintaining online communication with teachers, and shopping online and using online education services for their children. The findings demonstrate an unequal division of digital labor in urban Chinese families, in which mothers shoulder most of the digital labor in parenting. This study enriches the feminist literature by demonstrating the mutual construction of gender and digital technology in the domestic sphere and highlighting a new form of domestic labor divided between husbands and wives in the digital age. This study challenges liberating and progressive myths surrounding digital technology and calls for academic reflection and public attention on its constraining and exploitative implications for women.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11199-021-01267-w.

The Division of Domestic Labor During the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan:

The Division of Domestic Labor During the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan:

Exploring the domestic division of labor when both parents are involuntarily working from home: The effects of the UK COVID pandemic

AbstractAs part of the UK's response to the COVID pandemic many co‐habiting parents simultaneously began working from home, often involuntarily, potentially disrupting established divisions of domestic labor. Through 30 qualitative interviews with 15 heterosexual dual‐earning parents, this article explores the extent and nature of changes in respective labor allocations following the transition to home working. The data reveals that both women and men increased their time spent on domestic labor, though typically men's changes were insufficient to overturn pre‐existing unequal divisions, and women were more likely to reduce their employment hours to “better” balance caring and housework responsibilities. Men were also likely to see their increased domestic contributions as temporary during these exceptional circumstances with evidence of couples “doing” gender. Where partners did transition toward greater egalitarianism, men were actively taking ownership of new unpaid tasks and adapting their (gendered) familial identities as their work and family roles changed.

Gendered Division of Domestic Labour and Childbearing Intentions in Tehran, Iran.

Objective: Changes in the gendered division of domestic labour are often assumed to influence childbearing intention, but existing evidence is varied and less examined in the Asian context. This paper aims to investigate the association between the gendered division of domestic labour and the intention to have another child. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Tehran on 455 married women aged 18-40 years who were selected through a multi-stage cluster sampling. Results: Domestic labour is still a feminine role and the majority of women are satisfied with the division of domestic labour. Women’s satisfaction with the division of domestic labour is a predictor of their tendency to have another child, but the actual division of domestic labour has not a significant effect on women’s desire to childbearing, in the multivariate model. Conclusion: Women’s desire for having another child is positively impacted by their satisfaction with the gendered division of labour in their household. To achieve more fertility, gender equality in the family and identifying the factors affecting women's satisfaction with the division of domestic labour is suggested.

Three-Stage Transitional Theory: Egalitarian Gender Attitudes and Housework Share in 24 Countries.

How does the association between gender attitudes and housework share vary across countries and time? We examine the second demographic transition as it unmasks in the association between gender attitudes and housework participation. Using data of the 2002 and 2012 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) for 24 countries, we find that the association between gender attitudes and housework share became stronger over time in most countries, signifying that the Second Demographic Transition was in place. The results also show that the association varied across the 24 countries, reaching an equilibrium in many but at different stages. Our findings suggest that equilibria in the domestic division of labour take various forms and paces in the ISSP countries.

Changes in US Parents’ Domestic Labor During the Early Days of the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Stay‐at‐home orders and the removal of care and domestic supports during the early days of the COVID‐19 pandemic substantially disrupted US parents’ work and family lives. Although much is known about changes in US parents’ paid labor arrangements, the evidence regarding changes in unpaid domestic labor has been largely anecdotal. This study uses novel data from 1,025 US parents in different‐sex partnerships to provide a descriptive overview of changes in mothers’ and fathers’ participation in, and division of, housework and childcare from March 2020 to the early days of the pandemic (late April 2020). Findings show an overall increase in domestic responsibilities for mothers who were already doing most of the household labor. Still, both mothers and fathers report a general shift toward more egalitarian divisions of household labor, driven by increases in fathers’ contributions. The shift toward more egalitarian sharing of domestic labor is observed across demographic groups and across types of domestic tasks. Consistent with findings from other countries, egalitarian divisions of domestic labor increased among U.S. parents during the early days of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Mothers, nonetheless, report retaining primary responsibility for domestic labor in the majority of families.

Work-Time, Male-Breadwinning and the Division of Domestic Labour: Male Part-Time and Full-Time Workers in Unsettled Times

The majority of male workers spend full-time hours in the labour market while part-time employment is heavily female dominated. A decade of economic unrest in the UK following the recession of 2008–2009 was accompanied by a considerable expansion in the numbers of men working part-time. Growing male part-time employment is a significant phenomenon, with potential for narrowing gender inequalities in ways of working, inside and outside the home. Applying a gendered lens to men’s working lives, the article focuses upon the ramifications of this growing male work-time diversity. Unsettled times can create the circumstances for opening up acceptable behaviours, for ‘undoing’ gender roles. The financial circumstances of male part- and full-timers, and men’s engagement in unpaid domestic work, are compared. Part-time jobs are associated with more financial hardship than are full-time, but they offer up the potential for narrowing gender inequality in the sharing of core domestic work tasks.

Gender, Race and Parenthood Impact Academic Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: From Survey to Action.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is altering dynamics in academia, and people juggling remote work and domestic demands – including childcare – have felt impacts on their productivity. Female authors have faced a decrease in paper submission rates since the beginning of the pandemic period. The reasons for this decline in women’s productivity need to be further investigated. Here, we analyzed the influence of gender, parenthood and race on academic productivity during the pandemic period based on a survey answered by 3,345 Brazilian academics from various knowledge areas and research institutions. Productivity was assessed by the ability to submit papers as planned and to meet deadlines during the initial period of social isolation in Brazil. The findings revealed that male academics – especially those without children – are the least affected group, whereas Black women and mothers are the most impacted groups. These impacts are likely a consequence of the well-known unequal division of domestic labor between men and women, which has been exacerbated during the pandemic. Additionally, our results highlight that racism strongly persists in academia, especially against Black women. The pandemic will have long-term effects on the career progression of the most affected groups. The results presented here are crucial for the development of actions and policies that aim to avoid further deepening the gender gap in academia.

Family conflicts and the violence of unemployed husbands against their wives acting as the main breadwinner

In a patriarchal society, men are the breadwinners and women are obliged to perform a domestic role. However, in reality, there are many families with unemployed husbands and working wives who support the family. This study aimed to reveal the background of unemployed husbands and the conflicts and violence against wives as the main breadwinner. This study used qualitative research methods and is descriptive research in design. The researchers interviewed informants from families with unemployed husbands where the wives were the breadwinners. The results of this study indicate that the causes of the husbands not working include illness, bankruptcy, company rationalization, a lack of desire to support their family or being too lazy to work. The conflicts that often occur in families with unemployed husbands include the socialization of the children, family economy, the division of domestic labor, differences of opinion in various matters, conflicts with their extended families, and various cases that are considered trivial. The violence that occurs in the family with unemployed husbands is physical violence, verbal, and psychological abuse to wives. Although the wives are the source of the family economy, the husbands remain in a dominant position in the family. Therefore, efforts to overcome the violence in the family requires support from many parties, including the wives, families, communities, and the state.

GENDER, PARENTING, AND THE RISE OF REMOTE WORK DURING THE PANDEMIC: Implications for Domestic Inequality in the United States.

We examine how the shift to remote work altered responsibilities for domestic labor among partnered couples and single parents. The study draws on data from a nationally representative survey of 2,200 US adults, including 478 partnered parents and 151 single parents, in April 2020. The closing of schools and child care centers significantly increased demands on working parents in the United States, and in many circumstances reinforced an unequal domestic division of labor.

Division of domestic labor and fertility behaviors in China: the impact of extended family traditions on gender equity theory

Gender equity in division of domestic labor and its positive effects on fertility have been well documented in Western countries. This research extends the classic gender equity theory to East Asia, a country with an extended family tradition that complicates gender roles. Using four waves of data from the China Family Panel Study (CFPS), we find that: (1) parents or parents-in-law serve as a major source of informal help for housework and childcare in China; (2) the domestic help from parents can significantly increase the likelihood of childbearing for Chinese women; (3) the help from husbands is less important and only significant when parental help is absent. While gender equity in the West has a profound influence on gender equity in the East, Confucian traditions that assign roles according to gender and to the relationships among grandparents, parents, and children are a force to be reckoned with in China.

Gender role attitudes and the division of housework in young married couples in northern Vietnam

This article investigates the gender role attitudes and domestic division of labour of young couples in northern Vietnam. Based on separate interviews with 30 couples living in rural and urban areas, it explores young people's thoughts about the roles of a wife and a husband and how these translate into their allocation of housework. Analysis of the interviews indicates that the perceptions and expectations of young people remain influenced by traditional gender ideology, in that wives are still considered mainly responsible for housework. However, in practice, gender roles are highly flexible and demonstrate significant mutual support. In addition, the similarities or differences between spouses in terms of gender role attitudes contribute to levels of relative satisfaction regarding the current division of labour in households.