Abstract
This study assesses two competing theories about the extent to which homework—paid work in the home—helps integrate work and domestic roles for men and women. Contrasting male and female homeworkers with their counterparts working outside the home, it supports some aspects of both the resource and role overload theories, but predominantly the role overload perspective. Homeworkers, especially in the working class, experience less interference between job and family life, but perform more housework and child care. They have no more leisure time nor greater marital satisfaction than those working outside the home, but receive more family assistance with their paid jobs, suggesting that they combine tasks from their “first” and “second shifts.” Working at home does not break down gender roles in domestic life. Despite time saved from commuting, male homeworkers perform no more housework than comparable men working outside the home. Thus, the gender division of unpaid household labor is not simply a matter of resources or spatial logistics.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, Sheila andCarol Wolkowitz 1987 Homeworking: Myths and Realities. London: McMillan.
Beach, Betty 1989 Integrating Work and Family: The Home-Working Family. Albany: SUNY Press.
Becker, Gary 1976 The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Belville, Catherine 1935 The Commercialization of the Home through Industrial Home Work. Bulletin no. 135, Women's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Beneria, Lourdes andMartha Roldan 1987 The Crossroads of Class and Gender: Industrial Homework, Subcontracting, and Household Dynamics in Mexico City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Benson, Sue Porter 1989 “Women, work and the family economy: Industrial homework in Rhode Island in 1934.” In Eileen Boris and Cynthia Daniels (eds.), Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Paid Labor at Home: 53–74. Urbana: Illinois University Press.
Berk, Richard A. 1980 “The new home economics: An agenda for sociological research.” In Sarah F. Berk (ed.), Women and Household Labor: 113–148. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Berheide, Catherine 1984 “Women's work in the home: Seems like old times.” In Beth B. Hess and Harvin B. Sussman (eds.), Women and the Family: Two Decades of Change: 37–55. New York: Haworth Press.
Biggart, Nicole Woolsey 1989 Charismatic Capitalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Blalock, Hubert 1972 Social Statistics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Blumstein, Philip andPepper Schwartz 1991 “Money and ideology: Their impact on power and the division of household labor.” In Rae Lesser Blumberg (ed.), Gender, Family, and Economy: The Triple Overlap: 261–288. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Boris, Eileen 1985 “Regulating industrial homework: The triumph of ‘sacred motherhood.’” Journal of American History 71:745–763.
Boris, Eileen andCynthia Daniels, eds. 1989 Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Paid Labor at Home. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Christensen, Kathleen 1988 Women and Home-Based Work: The Unspoken Contract. New York: Henry Holt.
Costello, Cynthia 1988 “Clerical home-based work: A case study of work and family.” In Kathleen E. Christensen (ed.), The New Era of Home-Based Work: Directions and Policies: 135–145. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Coverman, Shelley andJoseph Shelley 1986 “Change in men's housework and child-care time, 1965–1975,” Journal of Marriage and the Family 48:413–422.
duRivage, Virginia andDavid Jacobs 1989 “Home-based work: Labor's choices.” In Eileen Boris and Cynthia Daniels (eds.), Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Paid Labor at Home: 258–271. Urbana: Illinois University Press.
Fernandez-Kelly, M. Patricia andAnna M. Garcia 1989 “Hispanic women and homework: Women in the informal economy of Miami and Los Angeles.” In Eileen Boris and Cynthia Daniels (eds.), Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Paid Labor at Home: 165–182. Urbana: Illinois University Press.
Finch, Janet 1983 Married to the Job. Boston: Unwin Hymer.
Gordon, Gil 1988 “Corporate hiring practices for telecommuting homeworkers.” In Kathleen E. Christensen (ed.), The New Era of Home-Based Work: Directions and Policies: 65–78. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Hartmann, Heidi 1981 “The family as the locus of gender, class and political struggle: The example of housework.” Signs 6:366–394.
Heck, Ramona 1989 “A profile of home-based workers.” Human Ecology Forum 16:15–18.
Herod, Andrew 1991 “Homework and the fragmentation of space: Challenges for the labor movement.” Geoforum 22: 173–183.
Hochschild, Arlie 1989 The Second Shift. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Horvath, Francis W. 1986 “Work at home: New findings from the current population survey.” Monthly Labor Review November: 31–35.
Iverson, Kristine 1988 “The government's role in regulating home employment.” In Kathleen E. Christensen (ed.), The New Era of Home-Based Work: Directions and Policies: 149–156. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Johnson, Laura andRobert Johnson 1982 The Seam Allowance: Industrial Home Sewing in Canada. Toronto: Women's Educational Press.
Kilborn, Peter 1989 “Playing games with child labor laws: When work fills a child's hours.” New York Times December 10: 1, 46.
Kilborn, Peter 1990 “Child labor law violators sought in nationwide raids.” New York Times March 15: A14.
Kingston, Jane 1983 “Telecommuting: Its impact on the home.” In Howard Blasbury (ed.), The World of Work: 287–300. Bethesda, MD: World Future Society.
1988 “Homework: What is it and who does it?” In Kathleen E. Christensen (ed.), The New Era of Home-Based Work: Directions and Policies: 30–48. Boulder, CO: Westview.
1989 “Telecommuting: The trade-offs of home work.” Journal of Communication 39: 19–47.
Kraut, Robert E. andPatricia Grambsch 1987 “Home-Based white collar employment: Lessons from the 1980 Census.” Social Forces 66: 410–426.
Leidner, Robin 1987 “Home work: A study in the interaction of work and family organization.” In Ida Harper Simpson and Richard L. Simpson (eds.), Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 4: High Tech Work: 69–94. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Lozano, Beverly 1989 The Invisible Work Force: Transforming Business with Outside and Home-Based Workers. New York: Free Press.
Meissner, M. E., S. Humphries, S. Meis, andW. Scheu 1975 “No exit for wives: Sexual division of labor and the cumulation of household demands.” Review of Canadian Sociology and Anthropology 12: 424–439.
Morales, Rebecca 1983 “Cold solder on a hot stove.” In Jan Zimmerman (ed.), The Technological Woman: Interfacing with Tomorrow. New York: Praeger.
National Research Council 1985 Office Work Stations in the Home. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Nelson, Margaret K. 1988 “Providing family day care: An analysis of home-based work.” Social Problems 35: 78–94.
Nilles, Jack 1977 The Telecommunication/Transportation Tradeoff. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
1988 “Corporate culture and the homeworker.” In Kathleen E. Christensen (ed.), The New Era of Home-Based Work: Directions and Policies: 126–134. Boulder, CO: Westview.
1989 “Organizational barriers to professional telework.” In Eileen Boris and Cynthia Daniels (eds.), Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspective on Paid Labor at Home: 215–230. Urbana: Illinois University Press.
Parsons, Talcott andR. F. Bales 1955 Family, Socialization and Process. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Pennington, Shelley andBelinda Westover 1989 A Hidden Workforce: Homeworkers in England, 1850–1985. London: Macmillan.
Pleck, Joseph 1985 Working Wives/Working Husbands. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Portes, Alejandro andSaskia Sassen-Koob 1987 “Making it underground: Comparative material on the informal sector in western market economies.” American Journal of Sociology 93: 30–61.
Pratt, Joanne H. 1984 “Home teleworking: A study of its pioneers.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 25: 1–14.
Quinn, Robert P. andGraham L. Staines 1979 The 1977 Quality of Employment Survey. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
Ramsower, Reagan Mays 1985 Telecommuting: The Organizational and Behavioral Effects of Working at Home. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Research Press.
Ross, Catherine E. 1987 “The division of labor at home.” Social Forces 65: 816–833.
Silver, Hilary 1989 “The demand for homework: Evidence from the U.S. Census.” In Eileen Boris and Cynthia Daniels (eds.), Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Paid Labor at Home: 103–129. Urbana: Illinois University Press.
Sokoloff, Natalie J. 1980 Between Money and Love: The Dialectics of Women's Home and Market Work. New York: Praeger.
Spitze, Glenna 1988 “Women's employment and family relations: A review.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 50: 595–618.
Thompson, Linda andAlexis Walker 1989 “Gender in families: Women and men in marriage, work, and parenthcod.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 51: 845–871.
Toffler, Alvin 1980 The Third Wave. New York: Bantam.
Tolbert, Charles, Patrick Horan, andE. M. Beck 1980 “The structure of economic segmentation.” American Journal of Sociology 85: 1095–1116.
Voydanoff, Patricia 1988 “Work role characteristics, family structure demands, and work/family conflict.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 50: 749–761.
Winship, Christopher andRobert D. Mare 1984 “Regression models with ordinal variables.” American Sociological Review 49: 512–525.
Wonnacott, Ronald J. andThomas H. Wonnacott 1970 Econometrics. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Silver, H. Homework and domestic work. Sociol Forum 8, 181–204 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01115489
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01115489