Waged Domestic Labour and the Renegotiation of the Domestic Division of Labour within Dual Career Households

Abstract

This paper examines the ways in which `between partners' forms of the domestic division of labour within dual career households are influenced by the employment of waged domestic labour. The paper is divided into three main sections. In the first a typology of domestic divisions of labour relating to the employment of waged domestic labour is developed. In the second we consider the forms of domestic division of labour within dual career households in Northeast and Southeast Britain, focusing on how particular forms of the `between partners' domestic division are transformed, modified and replicated with the employment of certain categories of waged domestic labour. In a final section we offer some explanations for the observed patterns, and stress the importance of the categories of waged domestic labour employed, the `between partners' form of the domestic division of labour and specific `trigger situations' to understanding the resultant form of the domestic division of labour. We conclude by offering some more general observations on debate over the contemporary renegotiation of the domestic division of labour and the place of waged domestic labour within this.