Occupational Class, Country and the Domestic Division of Labour

Abstract

The continuing increase in the level of paid employment amongst women raises important questions as to the allocation of domestic work. As the total of paid working hours within households continues to rise, who will carry out the domestic work traditionally undertaken (unpaid) by women? One solution is for men to undertake more caring and domestic work, and Fraser (1994) has argued that this outcome, that is, a move towards a ‘universal caregiver’ or ‘dual earner/dual carer’ (Crompton, 1999) society, is a necessary one if true gender equity is to be achieved. Another solution is the ‘outsourcing’ of childcare and other domestic tasks — that is, to pay someone else (usually another woman) to do them. Alternatively, women can continue to work a ‘double shift’ — in other words, retain the responsibility for household and domestic work whilst being in paid employment. What is the impact of these rather different solutions? Does it matter who does the housework as long as it gets done? In this paper, we will, in a preliminary fashion, begin to explore these questions.