In this thesis, I examine the relationships between changes in the structure of Australian families, trends in gender attitudes and trends in the housework hours of men and women in couple families. I examine how changing patterns of family formation and labour force participation are affecting patterns of time allocated to housework. Women’s responsibility for housework affects their ability to compete on equal terms with men in the labour market. Using data collected by three national surveys conducted in 1986, 1993 and 2005 I examine whether there is any evidence of convergence in the type of housework that men and women do (task convergence) and in the amount of time men and women spend doing housework (time convergence). I am primarily interested in whether Australian men are spending more time doing core housework tasks, namely cooking, cleaning and laundry. Tracking change over time in the US and the UK, researchers have found that there has been an increase in the amount of time men spent doing core housework tasks, however, there has been no evidence of a similar trend here in Australia. I review the key theoretical perspectives underpinning research into the gender division of labour: time availability, exchange of economic resources, gender and socialisation, before employing measures of the first three of these perspectives to examine change over time in the housework hours of men and women. The data analysed for this study do not include adequate measures of socialisation, therefore, I do not examine the association between socialisation and housework hours. Although previous researchers have examined the division of domestic labour within couple families, I focus on within gender comparisons examining the housework hours of men and women in various family types. By examining the absolute housework hours rather than the relative housework hours of men and women, I can determine whether men and women are spending a similar proportion of their housework hours doing particular tasks and whether the amount of time men and women spend doing particular tasks has become more similar. The division of housework into female tasks and male tasks is a major barrier to a more equal division of labour. Tasks traditionally regarded as female tasks- meal preparation, doing the dishes, cleaning the house, doing the laundry and shopping for groceries- account for the bulk of household labour and need to be completed on a regular, sometimes daily, basis. On the other hand, tasks traditionally regarded as male tasks- taking out the garbage, mowing the lawn, gardening and home repairs and maintenance- are more discretionary and can be completed on a more flexible schedule. Unless the division of tasks into male tasks and female tasks becomes less rigid, women will continue to spend more time doing housework than men. Overall, I find evidence of convergence in both housework tasks and housework hours. In 2005, men spent a larger proportion and women spent a smaller proportion of their housework time doing the core housework tasks compared to their counterparts in 1986. There is also evidence that the amount of time men spent doing housework increased and the amount of time women spent doing housework decreased. Men spent more time doing both female and male housework tasks and women spent less time doing female housework tasks and more time doing male housework tasks. These findings suggest that housework tasks have become more gender neutral. I also find evidence of a general trend towards a more equal division of labour with men in couple families increasing their housework hours by one and a half hours per week regardless of the employment status of their female partners and women in couple families spending less time doing housework regardless of their own employment status.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/279289 |
| Creators | Jennifer Chesters |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
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