“Women's Work”? Women Partners of Transgender Men Doing Housework and Emotion Work

Despite increasing family studies research on same‐sex cohabiters and families, the literature is virtually devoid of transgender and transsexual families. To bridge this gap, I present qualitative research narratives on household labor and emotion work from 50 women partners of transgender and transsexual men. Contrary to much literature on “same‐sex” couples, the division of household labor and emotion work within these contemporary families cannot simply be described as egalitarian. Further, although the forms of emotion work and “gender strategies,”“family myths,” and “accounts” with which women partners of trans men engage resonate with those from women in (non‐trans) heterosexual and lesbian couples, they are also distinct, highlighting tensions among personal agency, politics, and structural inequalities in family life.     

Gender,Productivity, and the Marital Wage Premium

Explanations for married men’s wage premium often emphasize greater market productivity due to a gendered division of household labor, though this “specialization thesis” has been insufficiently interrogated. Using data from Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 972), this paper examines the relationship between wages and time spent in paid labor and housework for married women and men with high levels of labor force attachment and their spouses. Scrutiny of couples’ time use finds strong evidence for the gendered division of labor, but little support for the anticipated wage effects of the specialization thesis itself. Less strict sample restrictions point to the need for continued research directed at couples’ joint employment and household labor decisions.     

The Division of Labor in Lesbian,Gay, and Heterosexual New Adoptive Parents

Little research has investigated the division of child care and housework in adoptive or lesbian/gay parent families, yet these contexts “control for” family characteristics such as biological relatedness and parental gender differences known to be linked to family work. This study examined predictors (measured preadoption) of the division of child care and housework (measured postadoption) in lesbian (n = 55), gay (n = 40), and heterosexual (n = 65) newly adoptive couples. Same‐sex couples shared child care and housework more equally than heterosexual couples. For the full sample, inequities in work hours between partners were associated with greater discrepancies in partners' contributions to child care and masculine tasks; inequities in income between partners were related to greater discrepancies in contributions to feminine tasks. Participants who contributed more to child care tended to contribute more to feminine tasks. These findings extend knowledge of how labor arrangements are enacted in diverse groups.     

Is There a Primary Mom? Parental Perceptions of Attachment Bond Hierarchies Within Lesbian Adoptive Families

Basic tenets of attachment theory were evaluated in a qualitative study of 15 lesbian couples with internationally adopted children, focusing on parental perceptions of a primary mother-child attachment within the families. Interviews with 30 mothers examined variables affecting the hierarchy of parenting bonds, including division of labor, time with the child, and parental legal status. All children developed attachments to both mothers, but 12 of the 15 had primary bonds to one mother despite shared parenting and division of labor between the partners. Quality of maternal caretaking was a salient contributing factor; no significant relationship existed between primary parenting and parental legal status.     

Division of Household Labor and Marital Satisfaction in China, Japan, and Korea

In this study, we compared the association of marital satisfaction with the division of household labor in China, Japan, and Korea. Results revealed that wives’ marital satisfaction was negatively associated with their burden of housework in the three Asian countries, as generally observed in Western countries. However, there were noticeable cross-country differences. Chinese couples were relatively in favor of an egalitarian division of household labor. Japanese couples were supportive of traditional specialization, with wives flexibly shifting their efforts between work outside the house and housework. Korean couples were under pressure from conflicts between the wife’s labor force participation and the traditional division of labor. These findings underscored the importance of the socio-institutional context in the study of marital satisfaction.     

The gendered division of labor and family outcomes in germany

The literature on the predictors of the division of household labor continues to expand, but the effect of this division on family outcomes has not been explored. Using the German SocioEconomic Panel (N= 628), I analyze the effect of men's participation in housework and child care on the likelihood of second birth and divorce. Fathers' greater relative child‐care time increases couples' odds of second birth, attenuating the negative effect of mothers' employment. Husbands' relative housework time is insignificant in predicting second birth or divorce among couples with at least one child, but increases the likelihood of divorce among childless couples. This is evidence that the division of domestic labor affects family outcomes, but effects differ depending on the outcome and presence of children.     

Lesbian women and household labor division: A systematic review of scholarly research from 2000 to 2015

ABSTRACT

Recent studies have begun to attend to distribution of household labor within same-gender couples compared to heterosexual couples, yet much of the available research with lesbian couples has attempted to superimpose division of household labor frameworks developed with heterosexual couples (e.g., gender role socialization, exchange bargaining theories) to fit the experiences of same-gender couples. Using two academic search databases, the present article provides a systematic review of the available 28 peer-reviewed articles published from 2000–2015 about lesbian partnerships and household labor divisions. Results indicate that lesbian couples engage in a more equal distribution of household labor than heterosexual couples, and that lesbian women often opt to eschew traditional gendered divisions of chores in favor of other factors such as quality of task or ability. The systematic review uncovered notable constraints in the demography of participants (e.g., race, socioeconomic status, geographic location) across studies. Strategies for deepening the depth and breadth of this line of work for future researchers, and implications for relationship satisfaction are also discussed.     

Unemployment in Families: The Case of Housework

Unemployment has consequences for individuals, but its impacts also reverberate through families. This paper examines how families adapt to unemployment in one area of life-time in housework. Using 74,881 observations from 10,390 couples in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we estimate fixed effects models and find that individuals spend between 3 and 7 hours more per week in housework when unemployed than when employed, with corresponding decreases of 1 to 2 hours per week in the housework hours of unemployed individuals' spouses. We are the first to show that unemployment is associated both with a reallocation of housework to the unemployed spouse and an increase in the family's total household production time. The results also provide evidence for gender differences in adjustments to the division of labor during unemployment, with wives' unemployment associated with an increase in housework hours that is double the increase for unemployed husbands.     

Shared Beliefs and the Union Stability of Married and Cohabiting Couples

Cohabiting couples and couples who cohabit prior to marriage have less stable relationships than married couples who did not cohabit, and these differences in stability may be linked to different processes within the relationships. This research examines the similarity of partners’ beliefs about the division of household labor using the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 1,039), finding that couples who do not share beliefs about the division of household labor are more likely to end their union. Cohabiting couples have a particularly high likelihood of ending the union when the two partners hold widely divergent views about whether housework should be shared, suggesting that cohabiting and married couples may have different responses to dissimilarity between the partners.     

Economic Opportunities and the Division of Labor among Japanese Immigrant Couples in Southern California*

Based on 36 in‐depth interviews conducted with 18 Japanese couples who live in Southern California, this study examines the impact of differential economic opportunities on the division of labor among Japanese immigrant couples. Three main factors facilitate Japanese professional and businessmen’s mobility to and settlement in Southern California: (1) the gender‐based stratification of the workplace in Japan; (2) U.S. immigration policies that favor foreign nationals with strong corporate ties and business experience; and (3) the strong presence of Japanese corporations in Southern California. Whereas these conditions enable men to maintain their earning power, they do not benefit women in employment opportunities. The difference in economic opportunities encourages Japanese couples to preserve a breadwinner and homemaker division of labor, and women continue to do a bulk of housework and childcare even when women reenter the labor force later in their lives.     

Social Exchange Theory and the Division of Household Labor in Same-Sex Couples

Same-sex couples are often not seen as a family unit and are excluded from research, including family research on topics such as household division of labor. The author examined division of household labor, using social exchange theory, among 165 survey respondents in a same-sex relationship. Division of labor was measured by the percentage of tasks performed according to the respondent. Status differences between partners (e.g., higher, equal, lower) in terms of income, education, hours spent on paid labor outside the home, employment status, age, and race (here, only same or different races) were the independent variables. In general, as predicted by social exchange theory, partners with greater resources or power performed fewer household tasks. Satisfaction with division of labor and sense of being appreciated for one's contributions to household tasks were positively correlated with global relationship satisfaction. However, some inconsistencies indicate gaps in social exchange theory and that other factors may be important in understanding division of labor among same-sex couples.     

The Construction of Gender Among Working-Class Cohabiting Couples

Utilizing three typologies that emerged from the data, we examine how 30 working-class cohabiting couples construct gender through paid and domestic labor. Contesting couples contain at least one partner, usually the woman, who attempts to construct more egalitarian arrangements. In Conventional and Counter-Conventional couples, neither partner is actively contesting their gendered arrangements. Among Conventional couples each partner adheres to a traditional division of labor. Normative gender arrangements are upended in Contesting and Counter-Conventional couples when the female partner resists financial dependence on her male partner or if or the male partner does not earn enough income to provide even for himself. Nevertheless, institutionalized gender roles appear deeply entrenched among the working-class cohabitors in this study.     

Divison of Labor,Perceived Fairness,and Marital Quality: The Effect of Gender Ideology

This study assesses the relations between division of household labor, perceived fairness, and marital quality by comparing three ethnic‐religious groups in Israel that reflect traditional, transitional, and egalitarian ideologies. The findings, based on structural equation modeling (SEM) methodology, show that sense of fairness mediates the relation between division of labor and marital quality and gender ideology moderates these relations for women but not for men. Perceived fairness is related to the division of labor for women in egalitarian and transitional families but not in traditional ones. For egalitarian women, a more segregated division of labor is linked directly with lower marital quality whereas for women in transitional families it is mediated by sense of fairness. The findings are discussed on two overlapping levels—conceptual‐theoretical and sociocultural—with implications for understanding families in cultural transition.     

Stability and Change in the Division of Labor among Cohabiting Couples

Because cohabitors express preferences for egalitarian relationships, it is generally presumed (by researchers and the popular press) that cohabiting couples engage in fairly equitable exchanges of domestic and paid work. This article explores how some cohabiting couples “do gender” through the division of labor—both paid and domestic work. Data are from in‐depth interviews with both partners from 30 cohabiting couples (N = 60) who have moderate levels of education. Few of these couples began their relationships sharing both paid work and domestic labor equally. Furthermore, the number of couples engaged in equal exchanges declined over time, while those relying on conventional exchanges grew. The devalued nature of domestic work, the persistence of gender privilege, and the “stalled” revolution are evident in how these working‐class cohabiting couples arrange their divisions of labor, reasons for changes, and why women are less able than men to opt out of housework.     

Arbeitsteilung in Stieffamilien

In comparison to other families, families featuring stepchild-relations are more inclined to practise non-traditional forms of intra-familial division of labor. A number of these to account for the differences between families with stepchild-relations and families without stepchild-relations can be deduced from various middle-range-theories concerning intra-familial division of labor. These hypotheses are examined using the German Family Survey (Familiensurvey) 1988 data. It is shown that hypotheses which assume the type of parenthood (natural or non-natural parenthood) as determining ones participation in familial labor cannot be confirmed. It is suggested to regard the tendency towards non-traditional forms of division of labor in stepfamilies as deriving from a lack of socially mediated patterns of behavior for parents in stepfamilies.     

The Division of Household Labor: Longitudinal Changes and Within‐Couple Variation

This study examined how the division of household labor changed as a function of marital duration and whether within‐couple variation in spouses' relative power and availability were linked to within‐couple variation in the division of labor. On 4 occasions over 7 years, 188 stably married couples reported on their housework activities using daily diaries. Multilevel models revealed that wives' portions of household responsibilities declined over time and that changes in spouses' relative income and work hours were linked to changes in housework allocation. Wives with husbands who perceived greater marital control, on average, did proportionally more housework, and for couples with husbands who had highly autonomous jobs, changes in spouses' relative psychological job involvement were linked to changes in housework allocation. The findings highlight the importance of understanding household division of labor as a life span phenomenon, the distinction between within‐ versus between‐couple associations, and the multidimensional nature of power and availability.     

In Search of Mesostructure in the Family: An Interactionist Approach to Division of Labor

This paper demonstrates the importance of the concept of mesostructure for understanding how families create and enact a gendered division of labor. The work of symbolic interactionists, especially those using the negotiated order perspective, is used to examine linkages and processes of articulation between the public and private worlds. Mesostructure provides a conceptual device for examining how men and women merge their respective activities within the context of social constraints. Six interlinked concepts developed by Hall (1987)—collective activity, network, conventions-practices, resources-power, processuality-temporality, and grounding—form the foundation for a mesostructural analysis of family division of labor. These concepts are used to explicate the interaction of structure and process in gender division of labor in families.     

Interactions Between Cultural and Economic Determinants of Divorce in The Netherlands

This study examines the relationship between gendered family roles and divorce in The Netherlands. Cultural and economic aspects of this relationship are distinguished. Economic hypotheses argue that the likelihood of divorce is increased if women work for pay and have attractive labor market resources. Cultural hypotheses argue that divorce chances are increased if women adhere to emancipatory norms, independent of their labor market positions. An event‐history analysis of a life‐history survey among 1,289 Dutch women reveals evidence for both hypotheses. Interaction effects are found as well: The protective effect of a traditional division of paid labor is only present among couples in which wives have traditional gender attitudes. Hence, the validity of economic explanations of divorce is conditional on cultural values.     

Parent Care as Unpaid Family Labor: How Do Spouses Share?

The study adapts theories of the household division of labor to the division of parent care between spouses and expands them by taking the kin relationship with the parent and the intensity of care into account. Tobit and weighted logit models are used to analyze the division of parent care in 2,214 couples from the British General Household Surveys. The models revealed patterns of parent care that are predominantly governed by the kin relationship. Time availability was strongly associated with couples' division of parent care, whereas the resource‐bargaining approach received little support except for dual‐earner couples that provided more intensive care for the husband's parents. Children‐in‐law's characteristics were hardly related to the division of high‐intensity caregiving in dual‐earner couples.     

Social Stratification and the Division of Household Labor in Japan: The Effect of Wives' Work on the Division of Labor among Dual-earner Families

Abstract:  This article explores the relationship between social stratification and the division of household labor by examining how the contribution to housework by husbands in dual-earner families varies across the Japanese social stratification structure. First, I review previous studies concerning the determinants of husbands' participation in housework and construct four hypotheses regarding the relative resources explanation, the time constraints explanation, the ideology/sex role explanation, and the alternative manpower explanation. Second, I examine the empirical support for these hypotheses in dual-earner couples and the effect of social stratification on husband's participation in housework, which has not been studied thus far. Third, I investigate the effect of social stratification in more detail. According to the results of TOBIT regressions and other supplementary analyses, the principal findings are as follows:

• 1) 

  the relative resources explanation is not supported;