By situating men within the country and time period in which they live, social scientists are better able to understand men's housework and child care behaviors. The author proposes that national context, conceptualized here as women's employment practices and policies, influences men's unpaid work behaviors by shaping the benefits of specialization, the terms of bargaining, and the ease of adhering to gender ideologies and norms. Using 44 time-use surveys from 20 countries (spanning 1965 to 2003) combined with original national-level data, the author utilizes multilevel models to test hypotheses regarding the relationship between national context and men's unpaid work behaviors. She finds that men's unpaid work time increases with national levels of women's employment. Furthermore, the effect of children on men's unpaid work time depends on women's national employment hours, the length of available parental leave, and men's eligibility to take parental leave, which indicates that particular public policies affect men in specific household situations. The analyses document the importance of national context for the unpaid work behaviors of all men, especially fathers, and shift the research focus from the attributes of individual men to the structures that hinder and facilitate men's unpaid work.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllenSarah M.HawkinsAlan1999. “Maternal Gatekeeping: Mothers' Beliefs and Behaviors That Inhibit Greater Father Involvement in Family Work.”Journal of Marriage and Family61: 199–212.
2.
BakerMaureen1997. “Parental Benefit Policies and the Gendered Division of Labour.”Social Service Review71: 52–71.
3.
BatalovaJeanneCohenPhilip2002. “Premarital Cohabitation and Housework: Couples in Cross-National Perspective.”Journal of Marriage and Family64: 743–55.
4.
BaxterJaneen1997. “Gender Equality and Participation in Housework: A Cross-National Perspective.”Journal of Comparative Family Studies28: 220–28.
5.
BeckerGary [1981]1991. A Treatise on the Family.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
6.
BergmannBarbara R.1995. “Becker's Theory of the Family: Preposterous Conclusions.”Feminist Economics1: 141–50.
7.
BerkSarah Fenstermaker.1985. The Gender Factory: The Apportionment of Work in American Households.New York: Plenum.
8.
BianchiSusan M.MilkieMelissa A.SayerLiana C.RobinsonJohn P.2000. “Is Anyone Doing Housework? Trends in the Gender Division of Household Labor.”Social Forces79: 191–228.
9.
BittmanMichaelEnglandPaulaFolbreNancySayerLiana C.MathesonGeorge2003. “When Does Gender Trump Money? Bargaining and Time in Household Work.”American Journal of Sociology109: 186–214.
10.
BloodRobert O.Jr.WolfeDonald M.1960. Husbands and Wives: The Dynamics of Married Living.Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
11.
BojeThomas P.LeiraArnlaug2000. “Introduction: Gender, Welfare State and the Market—Towards a New Division of Labour.” Pp. 1–19 in Gender, Welfare State and the Market: Towards a New Division of Labour, edited by BojeT. P.LeiraA.. London, England: Routledge.
12.
BreenRichardCookeLynn Prince2005. “The Persistence of the Gendered Division of Domestic Labour.”European Sociological Review21: 43–57.
13.
BrinesJulie1993. “The Exchange Value of Housework.”Rationality and Society5: 302–40.
14.
BrinesJulie1994. “Economic Dependency, Gender and the Division of Labor at Home.”American Journal of Sociology100: 652–88.
15.
BrysonLoisBittmanMichaelDonathSue1994. “Men's Welfare State, Women's Welfare State: Tendencies to Convergence in Practice and Theory?” Pp. 118–31 in Gendering Welfare States, edited by SainsburyD.. London, England: Sage.
16.
BudigMichelleFolbreNancy2004. “Activity, Proximity, or Responsibility? Measuring Parental Childcare Time.” Pp. 51–68 in Family Time: The Social Organization of Care, edited by FolbreN.BittmanM.. London, England: Routledge.
17.
CancianFrancesca M.OlikerStacey J.2000. Caring and Gender.Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira.
18.
ColtraneScott2000. “Research on Household Labor: Modeling and Measuring the Social Embeddedness of Routine Family Work.”Journal of Marriage and the Family62: 1208–33.
19.
ColtraneScottGaltJustin2000. “The History of Men's Caring: Evaluating Precedents for Fathers' Family Involvement.” Pp. 13–36 in Care Work: Gender, Class, and the Welfare State, edited by MeyerM. H.. New York: Routledge.
20.
CovermanShelley1985. “Explaining Husbands' Participation in Domestic Labor.”Sociological Quarterly26: 81–97.
21.
CunninghamMick2001. “Parental Influence on the Gendered Division of Labor.”American Sociological Review66: 184–203.
22.
DalyMary1994. “Comparing Welfare States: Towards a Gender Friendly Approach.” Pp. 101–17 in Gendering Welfare States, edited by SainsburyD.. London, England: Sage.
23.
DalyMary2000. The Gender Division of Welfare: The Impact of the British and German Welfare States.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
24.
DevenFredMossPeter2002. “Leave Arrangements for Parents: Overview and Future Outlook.”Community, Work, & Family5: 237–55.
25.
EnglandPaulaFarkasGeorge1986. Households, Employment and Gender: A Social, Economic and Demographic View.New York: Aldine.
26.
Esping-AndersenG⊘sta1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism.Cambridge, MA: Polity Press.
27.
Esping-AndersenG⊘sta1999. Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies.Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
28.
European Communities.2004. How Europeans Spend Their Time: Everyday Life of Women and Men.Luxembourg, Luxembourg: European Communities.
29.
European Communities Childcare Network.1994. Men as Carers: Towards a Culture of Responsibility, Sharing and Reciprocity between Women and Men in the Care and Upbringing of Children.Brussels, Belgium: European Commission Equal Opportunities Unit.
30.
FestingerLeon1957. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
31.
FolbreNancy1986. “Hearts and Spades: Paradigms of Household Economics.”World Development14: 245–55.
32.
FuwaMakiko2004. “Macro-Level Gender Inequality and the Division of Household Labor in 22 Countries.”American Sociological Review69: 751–67.
33.
GauthierAnne HeleneGershunyJonathanFisherKimberly2002. “MTUS On-Line Documentation.”Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, England. Retrieved August 15, 2003 (http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/mtus/structure.php).
34.
GauthierAnne HeleneGershunyJonathanFisherKimberly2003. “MTUS On-Line Documentation.”Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, England. Retrieved August 15, 2003 (http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/mtus/world5.5/index.php).
35.
GavanasAnna2002. “The Fatherhood Responsibility Movement: The Centrality of Marriage, Work and Male Sexuality in Reconstructions of Masculinity and Fatherhood.” Pp. 213–44 in Making Men into Fathers: Men, Masculinities and the Social Politics of Fatherhood, edited by HobsonB.. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
36.
GeistClaudia2005. “The Welfare State and the Home: Regime Differences in the Domestic Division of Labour.”European Sociological Review21: 23–41.
37.
GershunyJonathan2000. Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society.Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
38.
GershunyJonathanGodwinMichaelJonesSally1994. “The Domestic Labour Revolution: A Process of Lagged Adaptation.” Pp. 151–97 in The Social and Political Economy of the Household, edited by AndersonM.BechhoferF.GershunyJ.. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
39.
GershunyJonathanSullivanOriel2003. “Time Use, Gender, and Public Policy Regimes.”Social Politics10: 205–28.
40.
GersonKathleen1993. No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitments to Family and Work.New York: Basic Books.
41.
GersonKathleen1997. “An Institutional Perspective on Generative Fathering: Creating Social Supports for Parenting Equality.” Pp. 36–51 in Generative Fathering: Beyond Deficit Perspectives, edited by HawkinsA.DollahiteD.. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
42.
GerstelNaomiGallagherSally1994. “Caring for Kith and Kin: Gender, Employment, and the Privatization of Care.”Social Problems41: 519–39.
43.
GoldinClaudia Dale.1990. Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women.New York: Oxford University Press.
44.
GornickJanet C.MeyersMarcia K.RossKatherin E.1997. “Supporting the Employment of Mothers: Policy Variation across Fourteen Welfare States.”Journal of European Social Policy7: 45–70.
45.
GornickJanetMeyersMarcia2003. Families That Work: Policies for Reconciling Parenthood and Employment.New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
46.
GreensteinTheodore N.2000. “Economic Dependence, Gender, and the Division of Labor in the Home: A Replication and Extension.”Journal of Marriage and Family62: 322–35.
47.
GuptaS.1999. “The Effects of Marital Status Transitions on Men's Housework Performance.”Journal of Marriage and Family61: 700–711.
48.
HaasLinda1992. Equal Parenthood and Social Policy: A Study of Parental Leave in Sweden.Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
49.
HarveyAndrew S.1993. “Guidelines for Time Use Data Collection.”Social Indicators Research30: 197–228.
50.
HearnJeffPringleKeithMullerUrsulaOkeksyElzbietaLattuEmmiTallbergTeemuChernovaJannaFergusonHarryGullvag HolterOysteinKolgaVoldemar2002. “Critical Studies on Men in Ten European Countries: (3) The State of Law and Policy.”Men and Masculinities5: 192–217.
51.
HeerDavid1963. “The Measurement and Bases of Family Power: An Overview.”Marriage and Family Living25: 133–39.
52.
HobsonBarbaraMorganDavid2002. “Introduction: Making Men into Fathers.” Pp. 1–21 in Making Men into Fathers: Men, Masculinities and the Social Politics of Fatherhood, edited by HobsonB.. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
53.
HochschildArlie1989. The Second Shift.New York: Viking.
54.
HochschildArlie1995. “The Culture of Politics: Traditional, Postmodern, Cold-Modern, and Warm-Modern Ideals of Care.”Social Politics2: 331–46.
55.
HookJennifer2004. “Reconsidering the Division of Household Labor: Incorporating Volunteerism and Social Support.”Journal of Marriage and Family66: 101–17.
IversenTorbenRosenbluthFrances2006. “The Political Economy of Gender: Explaining Cross-National Variation in the Gender Division of Labor and the Gender Voting Gap.”American Journal of Political Science50: 1–19.
58.
JacobsJerry2002. “Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society, by Jonathan Gershuny.”Contemporary Sociology31: 156–58.
59.
JacobsJerryGersonKathleen2004. The Time Divide: Work, Family, and Gender Inequality.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
60.
JenkinsStephenO'LearyNigel1995. “Modeling Domestic Work Time.”Journal of Population Economics8: 265–79.
61.
JusterF. Thomas1985. “The Validity and Quality of Time Use Estimates Obtained from Recall Diaries.” Pp. 63–91 in Time, Goods, and Well-Being, edited by JusterF. T.StaffordF. P.. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
62.
KallebergArneRosenfeldRachel1990. “Work in the Family and in the Labor Market: A Cross-National, Reciprocal Analysis.”Journal of Marriage and Family52: 331–46.
63.
KnijnTrudieKremerMonique1997. “Gender and the Caring Dimension of Welfare States: Toward Inclusive Citizenship.”Social Politics4: 328–61.
64.
LeiraArnlaug1998. “Caring as a Social Right: Cash for Child Care and Daddy Leave.”Social Politics5: 362–78.
65.
LewisJane1992. “Gender and the Development of Welfare Regimes.”Journal of European Social Policy3: 159–73.
66.
LewisJane1993. “Women and Social Policies in Europe: Work, Family, and the State.”Hants, England: Edward Elgar.
67.
LundbergShellyPollakRobert1996. “Bargaining and Distribution in Marriage.”Journal of Economic Perspectives10: 139–58.
68.
LundbergShellyPollackRobertWalesTerence1997. “Do Husbands and Wives Pool Resources? Evidence from the U.K. Child Benefit.”Journal of Human Resources33: 463–80.
69.
MajorBrenda1993. “Gender, Entitlement, and the Distribution of Family Labor.”Journal of Social Issues49: 141–59.
70.
ManserMarilynBrownMurray1980. “Marriage and Household Decision-Making: A Bargaining Analysis.”International Economic Review21: 31–44.
71.
MariniMargaret MooneySheltonBeth Anne1993. “Measuring Household Work: Recent Experience in the United States.”Social Science Research22: 361–82.
72.
MarsiglioWilliamAmatoPaulDayRandalLambMichael2000. “Scholarship of Fatherhood in the 1990s and Beyond.”Journal of Marriage and Family62: 1173–91.
73.
McDonaldPeter2000. “Gender Equity, Social Institutions and the Future of Fertility.”Journal of Population Research17: 1–16.
74.
McElroyMarjorie B.1990. “The Empirical Content of Nash-Bargained Household Behavior.”Journal of Human Resources24: 559–83.
75.
McElroyMarjorie B.HorneyMary Jean1981. “Nash-Bargained Household Decisions: Toward a Generalization of the Theory of Demand.”International Economic Review22: 333–49.
76.
NatalierKristin2003. “‘I'm Not His Wife': Doing Gender and Doing Housework in the Absence of Women.”Journal of Sociology39: 253–69.
77.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).1998. Employment Outlook.Paris, France: OECD Publications.
78.
OrloffAnn Shola.1993. “Gender and Social Rights of Citizenship: The Comparative Analysis of Gender Relations and Welfare States.”American Sociological Review58: 303–28.
79.
PacholokShelleyGauthierAnne Helene2004. “A Tale of Dual-Earner Families in Four Countries.” Pp. 197–223 in Family Time: The Social Organization of Care, edited by FolbreN.BittmanM.. London, England: Routledge.
80.
PresserHarriet B.1989. “Can We Make Time for Children? The Economy, Work Schedules, and Child Care.”Demography26: 523–43.
81.
PresserHarriet B.1994. “Employment Schedules among Dual-Earner Spouses and the Division of Household Labor by Gender.”American Sociological Review59: 348–64.
82.
RismanBarbara J.1998. Gender Vertigo: American Families in Transition.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
83.
RobinsonJohn P.1985. “The Validity and Reliability of Diaries versus Alternative Time Use Measures.” Pp. 33–62 in Time, Goods, and Well-Being, edited by JusterF. T.StaffordF. P.. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
84.
RotundoE. Anthony.1985. “American Fatherhood: A Historical Perspective.”American Behavioral Scientist29: 7–23.
85.
SainsburyDiane1994. “Women's and Men's Social Rights: Gendering Dimensions of Welfare States.” Pp. 150–69 in Gendering Welfare States, edited by SainsburyD.. London, England: Sage.
86.
SainsburyDiane1996. Gender, Equality, and Welfare States.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
87.
SainsburyDiane1999. “Taxation, Family Responsibilities, and Employment.” Pp. 185–210 in Gender and Welfare Regimes, edited by SainsburyD.. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
88.
SayerLiana C.2002. “Trends and Gender Differences in the Nature of Nonmarket Work.”Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, August, Chicago, IL.
89.
SheltonBeth Anne.1992. Women, Men and Time: Gender Differences in Paid Work, Housework and Leisure.Westport, CT: Greenwood.
90.
SouthScott J.SpitzeGlenna1994. “Housework in Marital and Non-Marital Households.”American Sociological Review59: 327–47.
91.
StearnsP. N.1991. “Fatherhood in Historical Perspective: The Role of Social Change.” Pp. 28–52 in Fatherhood and Families in Cultural Context, edited by BozettF. W.HansonS.M.H.. New York: Springer.
92.
ThompsonLindaWalkerAlexis J.1989. “Gender in Families: Women and Men in Marriage, Work, and Parenthood.”Journal of Marriage and the Family51: 845–71.
WilkieJane Riblett.1993. “Changes in U.S. Men's Attitudes toward the Family Provider Role, 1972–1989.”Gender & Society7: 261–79.
95.
WindebankJan2001. “Dual-Earner Couples in Britain and France: Gender Divisions of Domestic Labour and Parenting Work in Different Welfare States.”Work, Employment & Society15: 269–90.
96.
WinshipChristopherRadbillLarry1994. “Sampling Weights and Regression Analysis.”Sociological Methods and Research23: 230–57.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
