Recent data on the division of domestic labor is examined, suggesting that the inevitability of a “second shift” for wives in dual-earner couples may be overstated. The allocation of paid work more to husbands and housework more to wives creates a combined work week that is, on average, balanced but gender specialized. However, there is also important variation among couples. Some employed wives do face a “double day,” but others are in more equitable arrangements. The implicitly and explicitly gendered expectations that both husbands and wives bring to thinking about housework play a significant role in shaping the degree of egalitarianism in practice.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bergmann, B. (1986). The economic emergence of women. New York: Basic Books.
2.
Berk, S. F. (1985). The gender factory: The apportionment of work in American households. New York: Plenum.
3.
Blood, R. , & Wolfe, D. (1960). Husbands and wives: The dynamics of married living. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
4.
Blumberg, R. L. , & Coleman, M. (1989). A theoretical look at the gender balance of power in American couples. Journal of Family Issues, 10, 225-250.
5.
Coleman, M. (1988). The division of household labor: Suggestions for future empirical consideration and theoretical development. Journal of Family Issues, 9, 132-147.
6.
Coverman, S. , & Sheley, J. (1986). Change in men's housework and childcare time, 1965-75. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 413-422.
7.
DeVault, M. (1990). Conflict over housework: The problem that (still) has no name. In L. Kriesberg (Ed.), Research in social movements, conflict and change. Greenwood, CT: JAI.
8.
Ferree, M. M. (1984). Sacrifice, satisfaction and social change: Women's employment and the family. In K. Sacks & D. Remy (Eds.), My troubles are going to have trouble with me (pp. 61-79). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
9.
Ferree, M. M. (1990). Beyond separate spheres: Feminism and family studies. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 866-884.
10.
Geerken, M. & Gove, W. (1983). At home and at work: The family allocation of labor. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
11.
Hartmann, H. (1981). The family as the locus of gender, class and political struggle: The example of housework. Signs, 6, 366-394.
12.
Hertz, R. (1986). More equal than others. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
13.
Hochschild, A. , with Machung, A. (1989). The second shift. New York: Viking.
14.
Hood, J. (1983). Becoming a two-job family. New York: Praeger.
15.
Huber, J. , & Spitze, G. (1983). Sex stratification: Children, housework, jobs. New York: Academic Press.
16.
Komter, A. (1989). Hidden power in marriage. Gender & Society, 3, 187-216.
17.
Maret, E. , & Finley, B. (1984). The distribution of household labor among women in two-earner families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46, 357-364.
18.
Miller, J. , & Garrison, H. (1982). Sex roles: The division of labor at home and in the workplace. Annual Review of Sociology, 8, 237-262.
19.
Pleck, J. (1985). Working wives/working husbands. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
20.
Ross, C. (1987). The division of labor at home. Social Forces, 65, 816-833.
21.
Spitze, G. (1986). The division of task responsibility in American households: Longitudinal adjustments to change. Social Forces, 64, 689-701.
22.
Spitze, G. (1988). Women's employment and family relations: A review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 595-618.
23.
Thompson, L. , & Walker, A. (1989). Gender in families: Women and men in marriage, work and parenthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 845-871.
24.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . (1988). Money income and poverty status in the U.S. (Series P-60, Report 162). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
25.
U.S. Department of Labor . (1989). Employment in perspective: Working women (Report 782). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
26.
West, C. , & Zimmerman, D. (1987). Doing gender. Gender & Society, 1(2), 125-151.
