The Division of Household Labor in Three-Dozen Countries

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

SES - 0350814 Judith Treas University of California, Irvine This study is a cross-national investigation of the determinants and consequences of gender inequality within the household. Housework has emerged as an important area of research, because women's unique family responsibilities have been shown to place them at a disadvantage in the workplace. Paradoxically, the division of household responsibility does not conform to a logic based in economic efficiency nor in resource exchange. Gender overrides the decision-making principles that govern other areas of human activity. Despite a rich body of research on the individual-level determinants of the household division labor, research is lacking on the way in which the broader social context affects couples' task-sharing and influences the impact of individual-level characteristics on household arrangements. Arguing that societal gender inequality diminishes the influence of women's resources in the household, this research considers the micro-level behavior of couples within the macro-level context of societies. Drawing on the Family & Changing Gender Roles III module of the 2002 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) and other recent data, the study has three objectives: 1) To investigate how partner characteristics, including relative resources, affect gender inequality in the division of domestic activities within couples in three dozen societies; 2) To construct and evaluate country-level measures of the macro-level climate of gender (e.g., the degree of male-female political and economic parity, support for family-friendly policies, intergenerational change in women's economic roles); and 3) To develop and test theoretically motivated, hierarchical models that investigate how the broader ideological, political, and social climate of gender in a country a) directly impacts the gender inequality of couple's domestic activities, b) tempers the effect of individual women's resources on their domestic activities, and c) contributes to individual perceptions of equity, couple conflict, and perceived tensions between work and home. The research will use analyses use cluster analysis, correspondence analysis, and nested ANOVA to describe and classify three dozen countries in terms of household domestic patterns. To explore in direct effects of individual- and country-level variables as well as the impact of their interactions, a series of two-level hierarchical linear models will be estimated. Individual-level equations consider the household's demand/need for housework, individual's time available for housework, resource exchange measures, gender attitudes, and control variables. Hierarchical models investigate how national ideological, political, and social climates directly impact the gender inequality of couple's domestic activities and affect the influence of individual women's resources. Country-level variables include measures of societal gender parity, ideology, public policies, institutionalized career patterns, family structure, and social change. The research results contribute to scientific understanding of gender inequality, help us better understand the impact of public policies on marriage and family, and encourage cross-national investigation of household behavior.