The Domestic Division of Labour

What is the domestic division of labour?

how roles related to housework, childcare, and paid work are shared between men and women

What are the instrumental and expressive roles (Parsons)?

• instrumental role - male breadwinner responsible for financial support

• expressive role - female caregiver responsible for emotional support, socialisation of children, and household management

How do feminists view Parsons's domestic division of labour?

• patriarchal

• assumes roles are natural

• roles are socially constructed

What are segregated conjugal roles (Bott)?

• clear gender division of tasks

• separate leisure activities

• roles separate and unequal

• more common among working class couples

What are joint conjugal roles (Bott)?

• tasks shared

• leisure shared

• financial decision making shared

• roles collaborative and more equal

• more common among middle class couples

What is the symmetrical family (Willmott & Young)?

• husbands and wives share housework, childcare, and leisure time

• joint roles

What reasons are given for symmetry in the family?

• rising female employment

• new technology

• higher living standards

• feminism

• legal changes

• access to contraception

What evidence supports there being some symmetry in families?

• husbands of full time working wives doing more housework

• greater female earning power linked to more equal decision making

What criticism did Ann Oakley make of the symmetrical family?

• only a small minority of husbands are highly involved in housework and childcare

• men do occasional tasks, whereas women are responsible for daily care and emotional work

What is the dual burden?

women are responsible for paid work and the majority of domestic labour

What is the triple shift (Duncombe & Marsden)?

• paid work

• domestic labour

• emotional work

What are some cultural or ideological explanations for the unequal division of labour?

• traditional gender norms

• gender socialisation

• the expectation that women handle housework and childcare

What evidence suggests changing norms affect domestic labour?

• couples whose parents shared housework are more likely to do the same

• younger men do more domestic work than previous generations

What are some material or economic explanations for the unequal division of labour?

• women often earn less than men

• lower earnings reinforce the domestic role

• greater financial equality leads to fairer division

What evidence supports material or economic explanations for the unequal division of labour?

• women who earn more do less housework

• middle class women are often able to buy domestic help

• full time employment reduces the share of domestic tasks

How do feminists explain domestic labour inequality?

• patriarchy maintains inequality

• paid work has not removed the dual burden and triple shift

• workplace inequality reinforces domestic inequality