Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Shares of Housework Between Mothers, Fathers and Young People: Routine and Non-routine Housework, Doing Housework for Oneself and Others

  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We use data from the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics time use survey to investigate shares of domestic work along two dimensions; routine and non-routine activities, and housework done for the whole household versus housework done for oneself only. We argue that the latter is an underutilised marker of responsibility for household management and serving others. Exploiting data from matched household members, we examine relative shares of fathers and mothers, and also of co-resident young people aged 15–34 (416 households), to include inputs from the younger generation as well as the parental couple. Mothers do the greatest share of routine housework and housework for others; parents are relatively equal in the shares of non-routine housework and housework done for themselves only. Young people take on a minimal share of total household work, particularly tasks done for others in the family. Parents’ employment configuration is associated with adjustments in shares between them, with no effect on children’s shares.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baxter, J. (2002). Patterns of change and stability in the gender division of household labour in Australia, 1996–1997. Journal of Sociology, 38(4), 399–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergmann, B. (2005). The economic emergence of women (2nd ed.). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Berk, S. F. (1985). The gender factory: The apportionment of work in American households. New York: Plenum.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi, S., & Milkie, M. (2010). Work and family research in the first decade of the 21st century. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 705–725.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi, S., Robinson, J., & Milkie, M. (2006). Changing rhythms of American family life. New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonke, J. (2010). Children’s housework—Are girls more active than boys? Electronic International Journal of Time Use Research, 7(1), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brines, J. (1994). Economic dependency, gender and the division of labor at home. American Journal of Sociology, 100(3), 652–688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coltrane, S. (2000). Research on household labor: modeling and measuring the social embeddedness of routine family work. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62(4), 1208–1233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. (2009). Accountable conduct: “Doing Gender” in transsexual and political retrospect. Gender and Society, 23(1), 104–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, L. P., & Baxter, J. (2010). ‘Families’ in international context: Comparing institutional effects across western societies. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 516–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crabb, A. (2015). The wife drought. Sydney: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., & Bittman, M. (2008). The effect of children on adults’ time-use: An analysis of the incremental time costs of children in Australia. Feminist Economics, 14(2), 57–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., & Mullan, K. (2010). Parenthood, gender and work-family time in USA, Australia, Italy, France and Denmark. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(5), 1344–1361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., Powell, A., & Brown, Judith. (2015). Co-resident parents and young people aged 15–34: Who does what housework? Social Indicators Research, 121(2), 569–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crompton, R., Brockmann, M., & Lyonette, C. (2005). Attitudes, women’s employment and the domestic division of labor: A cross-national analysis in two waves. Work, Employment and Society, 19(2), 213–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vaus, D. (2004). Diversity and change in Australian families: Statistical profiles. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dempsey, K. (2001). Women’s and men’s consciousness of shortcomings in marital relations, and of the need for change. Family Matters, 58(Autumn), 58–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, F. (2000). Halving it all: How equally shared parenting works. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dribe, M., & Stanfors, M. (2009). Does parenthood strengthen a traditional household division of labor? Evidence from Sweden. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(1), 33–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • England, P. (2010). The gender revolution: Uneven and stalled. Gender and Society, 24(2), 149–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • England, P. (2011). Reassessing the uneven gender revolution and its slowdown. Gender and Society, 25(1), 113–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fineman, M. (2004). The autonomy myth: A theory of dependency. New York: The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folbre, N. (2001). The Invisible Heart: economics and family values. New York: The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuwa, M. (2004). Macro-level gender inequality and the division of household labor in 22 countries. American Sociological Review, 69(6), 751–767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geist, C. (2005). The welfare state and the home: Regime differences in the domestic division of labor. European Sociological Review, 21(1), 23–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gornick, J., & Meyers, M. (2003). Families that work: Policies for reconciling parenthood and employment. New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gornick, J., & Meyers, M. (2004). Welfare regimes in relation to paid work and care. In J. Z. Giele & E. Holst (Eds.), Changing life patterns in western industrial societies (pp. 45–68). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenstein, T. (2000). Economic dependence, gender and the division of labor in the home. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62(2), 322–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilbrecht, M., Zuzanek, J., & Mannell, R. C. (2008). Time use, time pressure and gendered behavior in early and late adolescence. Sex Roles, 58, 342–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hook, J. (2006). Care in context: Men’s unpaid work in 20 countries, 1965–2003. American Sociological Review, 71(4), 639–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hook, J. (2010). Gender inequality in the welfare state: sex segregation in housework, 196–2003. American Journal of Sociology, 115(5), 1480–1523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ironmonger, D. (2004). “Bringing up Betty and Bobby: The macro time dimensions of investment in the care and nurture of children. In N. Folbre & M. Bittman (Eds.), Family time: The social organisation of care (pp. 93–110). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kloep, M., & Hendry, L. B. (2010). Letting go or holding on? Parents’ perceptions of their relationships with their children during emerging adulthood. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28(4), 817–834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lachance-Grzela, M., & Bouchard, G. (2010). Why do women do the lion’s share of housework? A decade of research. Sex Roles, 63, 767–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahaffy, K. A. (2004). Gender, race, class, and the transition to adulthood: A critical review of the literature. Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, 9, 15–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattingly, M., & Sayer, L. (2006). Under pressure: Gender differences in the relationship between free time and feeling rushed. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 68(1), 205–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMahon, A. (1999). Taking care of men: Sexual politics in the public mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, B. (2004). Home, but not alone: socio-cultural and economic aspects of Canadian young adults sharing parental households. Atlantis, 28(2), 115–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, P. (2005). Useful and priceless children in contemporary welfare states. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender State and Society, 12(1), 3–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, B. (2006). The Boomerang age from childhood to adulthood: emergent trends and issues for aging families. Canadian Studies in Population, 33(2), 155–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Punch, S. (2001). Household division of labor: generation, gender, age, birth order and sibling composition. Work, Employment and Society, 15(4), 803–823.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ridgeway, C., & Correll, S. (2004). Unpacking the gender system: A theoretical perspective on gender beliefs and social relations. Gender and Society, 18(4), 510–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, G. (1987). Problems in role-reversed families. In Charlie Lewis & Margaret O’Brien (Eds.), Reassessing fatherhood: New observations on fathers and the modern family (pp. 161–179). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sayer, L. (2005). Gender, time and inequality: trends in women’s and men’s paid work, unpaid work and free time. Social Forces, 84(1), 285–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayer, L., Bianchi, S., & Robinson, J. (2004). Are parents investing less in children? Trends in mothers’ and fathers’ time with children. American Journal of Sociology, 110(1), 1–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strazdins, L., & Broom, D. (2004). Acts of love (and work) gender imbalance in emotional work and women’s psychological distress. Journal of Family Issues, 25, 356–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, O. (1997). Time waits for no (wo)man: An investigation of the gendered experience of domestic time. Sociology, 31(2), 221–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West, C., & Zimmerman, D. (2009). Accounting for doing gender. Gender and Society, 23(1), 112–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wight, V., Price, J., Bianchi, S., & Hunt, B. (2009). The time use of teenagers. Social Science Research, 38(4), 792–809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Australian Research Council Grant Nos. FT150100067, DP1093311.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Kensington Campus, Sydney, 2052, Australia

    Lyn Craig

  2. Centre for Social Impact, Suite 16.01, Level 16, 6 O’Connell St, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia

    Abigail Powell

Authors
  1. Lyn Craig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Abigail Powell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lyn Craig.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Craig, L., Powell, A. Shares of Housework Between Mothers, Fathers and Young People: Routine and Non-routine Housework, Doing Housework for Oneself and Others. Soc Indic Res 136, 269–281 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1539-3

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1539-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation