Changing Housework Arrangement Between Couples - Literature review Example

Changing Housework Arrangement Between Couples Traditionally, women perform the household chores while men go out to work. This work arrangement can be traced to the hunting-gathering economic system wherein women stay in the community while the men went to the wilds to hunt for game animals or gather food in the forest. Later, many of the jobs available were suited for men or that companies preferred men than women. There was also a time when women were not sent to school to study, thus, they have no recourse but to stay at home. These contributed to the stereotype that women must stay at home to do the housework while men have to earn a living. Social change is brought about by the continued increase in the number of women who join the labor force in North America, Europe and Oceania starting the age of industrialization (Kornblum 2007). The increase in number of women joining the labor force (Bianchi et al. 2000; Kamo & Cohen 1998; Presser 1994; Shelton 1990, cited in (Omori & Smith 2009) resulted to a decline in the number of hours spent for domestic work (Artis & Pavalko 2003, cited in Omori & Smith 2009). The changing work division is attributed to the declining time that wives spare for household chores (Van der Lippe et al. 2004, cited in Omori & Smith 2009). The routine household works are influenced by cultural values and in line with the “male-breadwinner-and-female-homemaker arrangement” (Treas 2011, para. 6). Cleaning the house is associated with women while working outside to earn a living is the obligation of men (Omori & Smith 2009). However, in African American and Hispanic households, wives usually work outside of the home to earn a living (Omori & Smith 2009). Omori and Smith (2009) reported that women who hold higher or managerial positions, with increased status and income, tend to spend lesser work hours at home. Studies from several countries show that household work arrangements are influenced by values, beliefs and norms in the community (Treas 2011). Through long practice, many household chores were relegated to women. Men, influenced by the machismo concept and image would shy away from such type of chores, otherwise, they would be tagged as feminine. However, many sociological, societal and economic factors have affected this traditional system of housework. Many women have already attained higher educational degrees. The economic slump caused many men to lose their jobs. A new working system has likewise emerged that require employees to work at nighttime. These variables have affected the working arrangement at the level of the home. In Canada, couples with children 18 years old and below and were both working comprised 71 percent in 1990 (Marshall 1993). But around the 1980s, dual-earning couples composed only 30 percent of the group population (Marshall 1993). There are, however, tasks that women usually perform such as cleaning the house, washing and laundry, or meal preparation (Marshall 1993). House maintenance and repairs belong to the turf of men (Marshall 1993). The General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada in 1990 reveals that although the housework of wives who has a paid job outside decreases, husbands do not perform household chores proportionately to such decrease (Marshall 1993). This is exemplified in the meal preparation task where 89 percent of wives who did not belong to the workforce do it (Marshall 1993). But 86 percent still prepare the meals when they work part time, and 72 percent of those who are fully employed (Marshall 1993). Marshall (1993) also reported that for dual-earners that work full time, sharing of work at home is connected with the fulfillment they get “with several aspects of their lives: the allocation of household tasks, the time for other interests, and the balance between work and family (p. 4). Society and culture have an impact upon the division of domestic work anywhere around the world (Treas 2011). Treas (2011) in collaboration with Sonja Drobnic and other researchers have found that policies in some countries reinforce the traditional role of women by allowing working wives time away from work to do house jobs and care of children (Treas 2011). However, in Sweden, this gender difference with regard to work is closing in (Treas 2011). The couple decides on who does the housework depending on the commitment of a spouse (Treas 2011). Thus, since women usually have lesser-paid hours, they perform more work at home (Treas 2011). But if the wife works for a longer time outside, the husband performs house duties (Treas 2011). However, even if the couple recognizes equality, often, they still do work at home based on traditional duties based on gender (Treas 2011). While it was said that the spouse who earns more could bargain on doing easier house works, the wife who has a bigger income cannot utilize this to her advantage and end up doing more work at home (Treas 2011). This setup violates the accepted norm that earning a living should be the realm of men, and still, wives have to do more household chores despite a higher income (Treas 2011). The presence of young children in the family has an influence on how women partition their time (Treas 2011). Thus, UK, Germany and the Netherlands allow for part time work to enable wives to easily balance work and family obligations (Treas 2011). This is not the norm in southern Europe and the former socialist countries (Treas 2011). Wives can easily balance the work and family when they have lesser hours spent at work (Treas 2011). They still have to do more housework than men when they stay more at home (Treas 2011). In the US, since mothers with preschoolers do not receive child allowance from the government that would allow them to stay at home, they have no choice but to join the labor force (Treas 2011). Thus, such demand outside the home may call for husbands to have a bigger share in the housework (Treas 2011). Survey studies show that American men have been assuming more housework compared with 20 to 30 years ago (Kornblum 2007). Using the “time-use diaries” (Press & Townsley 1998, cited in Kornblum 2007) would reveal, however, that men had lesser participation than what is provided in the surveys (p. 346). It indicates that the spouses are ashamed to admit that they are not sharing in the work burden equally (Kornblum 2007). Government rules and regulations in many countries seem to reinforce the stereotyping of certain housework, although this may not be the intent, through the “tax codes, employment regulations, school schedules, and welfare rules” (Treas 2011, para. 5). This can be seen in the tax credit given for the unemployed stay at home mother (Treas 2011). A mother would also be encouraged to stay at home rather than joining the labor force by charging the second earner a higher tax rate (Treas 2011). In Germany, schools send children at home during lunchtime, thus encouraging mothers to prepare lunch for them. (Treas 2011). On the other hand, where public day care system is provided, mothers are encouraged to seek employment instead since they can leave their children at the day care facility (Treas 2011). According to Treas (2011), these pro-family policies actually promote inequality in the division of labor. The couples need not negotiate for a more equal work arrangement with this setup (Treas 2011). Former socialist countries in Eastern Europe allow women workers to get regular day off, and more often than men, in order to accomplish the needed housework (Treas 2011). A long maternity leave will likewise motivate a mother to seek a “dead-end job” (Treas 2011, para. 5) that offers less chance of career development. And if the wife’s income cannot equal the pay of the husband, it would be more practical to keep the breadwinning role in the family with the husband and the wife to do housekeeping (Treas 2011). While childcare is necessarily a woman’s role, an exception can be found in Sweden wherein a “Daddy Leave” is required from a new father in order to enhance bonding between the father and the infant prior to the assumption of the mother of child caring role (Treas 2011, para. 5). Sweden strongly supports equality policies and gender equality (Treas 2011). Taking into consideration the cultural basis for marriage in relation to children and economic security, husbands must perform men’s jobs while wives should do women’s works (Treas 2011). Other countries that define marriage with intimacy would equate it with “personal development, communication, and reciprocity” (Treas 2011). An intimacy-based marriage tends to move towards more equality in work sharing (Treas 2011). The GSS study conducted in 1990 reveals that when both spouses work full time outside the home, sharing of responsibility is more likely in order to better manage household chores (Marshall 1993). But this does not necessarily mean equal sharing of work (Marshall 1993). Equal sharing of tasks occur when the income of the wife increases (Marshall 1993). Personal satisfaction of each partner has also a factor to consider on how the spouses divide the work (Marshall 1993). In dual-earning families, a full-time husband assumed domestic work but in a low proportion (Marshall 1993). The most common task husbands would share is meal clean-up (15 percent of the respondents), and 16 percent for doing it on their own (Marshall 1993). In meal preparation, 12 percent reported shared responsibility, while 13 percent had the sole responsibility for the task (Marshall 1993). The 13 percent of the husbands who said that they share laundry and cleaning, 7 percent said it is the least that they would do alone (Marshall 1993). “Full-time dual-earners” depart from the conventional roles since the spouses both contribute to earning (Marshall 1993, p. 3). Although this is expected to cause sharing of labor, what really happens is that the wife still retains the main responsibilities at home (Marshall 1993). Fifty-two percent of full-time wives perform all the housework, while 28 percent reported that they do all the work (Marshall 1993). A very low 10 percent of dual earning spouses only share household chores equally. Only 10 percent had the husband do most or all of the work (Marshall 1993). The study showed that a very small portion of dual earners that work full-time equally share housework (Marshall 1993). There are changes in the work arrangement between husband and wife but the figure is not high. There are also families where the wife is the sole breadwinner, thus, leaving the husband to do the tasks commonly associated with women, but this is still not the dominant trend. References Kornblum W 2007. Sociology in a Changing World. 8th edn, Thomson Learning. . [Accessed 7 April 2011]. Marshall K 1993 Autumn, Employed parents and the division of housework. Perspectives. . [Accessed 4 April 2011]. Omori M & Smith DT 2009 Spring. ‘The impact of occupational status on household chore hours among dual earner couples’, Sociation Today, vol. 7, no. 1. . [Accessed 4 April 2011]. Treas J 2011, February 8. Household chores or ‘women’s work’? UC Irvine School of Social Sciences. . [Accessed 4 April 2011]. Read More