Enough Time for Housework? Low‐Wage Work and Desired Housework Time Adjustments

Although studies examine preferences for hours spent in paid employment, little attention has been given to preferences for hours spent in unpaid household labor. This study examines the extent to which women working in low‐paid retail jobs would prefer to spend more or less time on household work and how alignment between preferred and actual time on housework is related to characteristics of paid work. Using original survey data and company records on a sample of women working at a U.S. retail firm (N = 277), the authors found that mismatch between preferred and actual time on household work was common. Roughly 42% wanted more time on household work and 18% wanted less. Working multiple jobs, work schedule unpredictability, and nonstandard work timing contributed to wanting more time on housework. Findings add to understanding of how low‐wage, precarious employment shapes workers' ability to attend to necessary tasks of household management.     

Renegotiating the domestic division of labour? A study of dual career households in north east and south east England

This paper is concerned with extending debate on the renegotiation of the domestic division of labour within the context of contemporary economic restructuring. Our focus is on a form of household which is becoming increasingly common in Britain in the 1990s. This is the dual career household, in which both partners are in full time professional/managerial employment. A sample of 71 households drawn from the North east and South east, forms the basis for the study. The paper is divided into three main sections. In the first we establish a typology of forms of the domestic division of labour, as well as a means of allocating individual households to particular forms of the domestic division of labour. Then we move on to discuss the degree of variation in particular forms of the domestic division of labour found within our sample households and illustrate these with reference to five case studies. In our final section we consider the implications of our findings for the respective arguments of Lydia Morris and Jane Wheelock; point to the significance of gender identities to an understanding of between household variation in form of the domestic division of labour; and suggest how our finding shed light on the debate over women and social class.     

Transitions to Caregiving,Gender, and Psychological Well‐Being: A Prospective U.S. National Study

Guided by a life course perspective, this study examined the effects of transitioning into caregiving activity for a child, spouse, parent, other relative, or nonkin associate on nine dimensions of psychological well‐being. Data came from adults ages 19–95, who were noncaregiver primary respondents in the National Survey of Families and Households in 1987–88 and who were followed up longitudinally in 1992–93 (N= 8,286). Results from multivariate regression models confirmed that the transition to caregiving for primary kin (i.e., a child, spouse, or biological parent) was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms. However in selected instances, caregiving was associated with beneficial effects (e.g., women who began to provide nonresidential care to a biological parent reported more purpose in life than noncaregiving women). Evidence regarding gender differences was inconsistent, varying across caregiving role relationship types.     

Exact methods in optimum disassembly sequence search for problems subject to sequence dependent costs

Disassembling complex products is formally approached via network representation and subsequent mathematical modeling, aimed at selecting a good or optimum sequence of disassembly operations. This is done via heuristics, metaheuristics or mathematical programming. In contrast with heuristics and metaheuristics, which select a near-optimum solution, mathematical programming guarantees the selection of the global optimum. This problem is relatively simple if the disassembly costs can be assumed sequence independent. In practice, however, sequence dependent disassembly costs are frequently encountered, which causes NP-completeness of the problem. Although methods, e.g., based on the two-commodity network flow approach, are available to solve this constrained asymmetric Traveling Salesperson problem rigorously, this requires the introduction of integer variables. In this paper, a modification of the two-commodity network flow approach is proposed, which reduces the number of integer variables. This is applied to product structures that can be represented by a disassembly precedence graph. It is demonstrated that use of integer variables is completely avoided by iteratively solving a binary integer linear programming problem. This appears to be more efficient than solving the corresponding integer linear programming problem. It is demonstrated, on the basis of some cases, that this method might provide the exact solution of problems with increased complexity compared to those discussed so far in the literature. This appears particularly useful for evaluating heuristic and metaheuristic approaches.     

Avoiding “regulatory mismatch in regulating workplace ergonomics: The case for an informational approach

Conclusion My basic point is simple: OSHA, in its zeal to ensure safer workplaces, should remember that its primary task as a regulatory agency is to correct market failures and should tailor its regulatory solutions to respond to market failures efficiently. The most efficient solution to a market failure will generally be the least restrictive regulatory alternative, for such an alternative maximizes the ability of individual actors to engage in wealthcreating private ordering. With respect to inadequate ergonomic protections in the workplace, the culprit market failure is not a negative externality but is — if there truly is a market failure — systematic informational inadequacies on the part of employees (about ergonomic risks) and employers (about available precautions). The most narrowly tailored regulatory solution, and therefore the one most likely to preserve the wealth-creation benefits of private ordering, would focus on providing the systematically under-produced information to the relevant actors.     

INFORMATION AND ENDOGENOUS DELEGATION IN A RENT‐SEEKING CONTEST

We offer a new explanation for the occurrence of delegation in rent‐seeking contests. We consider a two‐player contest for a prize of common value. The players only know that the prize is high or low, with given probabilities. Each player can hire a delegate to act on his behalf. After a delegate is hired, she privately observes the true value of the prize. We derive the conditions under which, respectively, no player, only one player, or both players delegate in equilibrium. (JEL D7)