Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2006, 7 (1): 19-25

The Division of Household Labour in Families with Children

Jana Bierzová

The study examines the division of household labour in Czech families with underage children and gender differences in the extent and type of household activities. The paper discusses the different approaches to explaining the division of household labour as well as criticisms of these approaches. The neoclassical economic theory of rational choice, the relative resources theory, the time availability hypotheses, the gender ideology approach and the socialisation theories are presented. The theoretical part is followed by an analysis of data from sociological survey of the families with underage children. This survey confirmed that women's overall household labour time is far greater than men's. Men spent an average of 1,83 hours a day on housework, compared to an average of 4,1 hours each day for women. The number of hours spent on housework is mostly dependent on gender and income. Women do the majority of the household task (including preparing meals, washing, ironing, cleaning house and so on), men are mostly responsible for minor repairs.

Keywords: Housework, Gender, Division of labour

Published: March 1, 2006  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Bierzová, Jana. 2006. "The Division of Household Labour in Families with Children." Gender, Equal Opportunities, Research 7(1):19-25.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Becker, G. S. 1981. A Treatise on the Family. Cambridge, Mass.: Harward University Press.
    2. Brines, J. 1994. "Economic Dependency, Gender, and the Division of Labor at Home." American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 100, No. 3: 652-688. Go to original source...
    3. Coltrane, S. 1996. Family Man. Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Go to original source...
    4. Condran, J., Bode, J. 1982. "Rashhoman, Working Wives, and Family Division of Labor." Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 44: 421-426. Go to original source...
    5. Crompton, R., Harris, F. 1999. "Attitudes and Domestic Labour." Restructuring Gender Relations and Employment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    6. Farkas, G. 1976. "Education, Wage Rates, and the Division of Labor between Husband and Wife." Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 38: 473-483. Go to original source...
    7. Hochschild, A. 2003. The Second Shift. New York: Penguin Books (1. vydání 1989).
    8. Chaloupková, J. 2005. "Faktory ovlivňující dělbu domácí práce v českých domácnostech." Sociologický časopis, roč. 41, č. 1: 57 - 77. Go to original source...
    9. Křížková, A. 1999. "The Division of Labour in Czech Households in the 1990s." Czech Sociological Review, Vol. 7, No. 2: 205-214. Go to original source...
    10. Shelton, B. A., Firestone, J. 1989. "Household Labor Time and the Gender Gap on Earnings." Gender & Society, Vol. 3, No.1: 105-112 Go to original source...
    11. Shelton, B. A., John, D. 1996. "The Division of Household Labor." Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 22: 299-322 Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content