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Attitudes Toward Housework and Child Care and the Gendered Division of Labor
Author(s) -
Poortman AnneRigt,
Van Der Lippe Tanja
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00617.x
Subject(s) - division of labour , child care , ideology , meaning (existential) , domestic work , psychology , competition (biology) , demographic economics , social psychology , labour economics , sociology , economics , political science , medicine , wage , politics , market economy , ecology , pediatrics , law , psychotherapist , biology
Research on the division of household labor has typically examined the role of time availability, relative resources, and gender ideology. We explore the gendered meaning of domestic work by examining the role of men's and women's attitudes toward household labor. Using data from the Dutch Time Competition Survey (N = 732), we find that women have more favorable attitudes toward cleaning, cooking, and child care than do men: Women enjoy it more, set higher standards for it, and feel more responsible for it. Furthermore, women's favorable and men's unfavorable attitudes are associated with women's greater contribution to household labor. Effects are stronger for housework than child care, own attitudes matter more than partner's, and men's attitudes are more influential than women's.