Women's Studies / S. Gallardo
Women & Domestic Work
I. Households in the U.S.
II. The Culture of Motherhood
--Soldiers & Mothers p
--Mothers' uncompensated work as "natural"
--Mothers' uncompensated work subsidizes wage work
III. The rise of the “double shift” -
Question: Men's work? Women's work?
A.
Moms & Dads, household dynamics
B. Housework trends and statistics
- A recent study examined attitudes toward household tasks among men found that 73% of men and women said that childcare was woman’s primary responsibility.
- 80% cooking
- 79% grocery shopping
- 80% laundry
- 76% housecleaning
- 73% dishes
- Sole male chore responsibility? 55% Financial decisions
Hersch, Vanderbilt, 2008 - Women spend 53% more time on housework than men.
Stafford, economist, UMichigan: women do 70% of the housework, across the board.
| Single, no kids | Married, no kids | |
| Women | 10 hrs/week | 17 hrs/week |
| Men | 8 hrs/week | 7 hrs/week |
worst case: Married woman, 3 kids: 28 hrs.
Married man, 3 kids: 10 hours
| Given the choice, prefer to work outside the home, or stay at home? | ||
| Prefer outside work | Women |
Men |
2001 |
53% | 73% |
2007 |
50% | 68% |
Housework and childcare constitute a huge, uncompensated, undervalued, largely unacknowledged work burden in this country.
Our present work culture was created for, caters to, the lives of hetero men with stay-at-home wives - not dual-career couples, not single moms, not caretaking dads.
IIIB. Does it have to be like this?
France - Global maternity trends
IV. Traditional marriage? Divorce
--even when both spouses work, heterosexual married couples more likely to move for the man's career than the woman's....men's incomes were boosted by $3000 the year after a move, while women's incomes dropped. Plus, women were more likely to give up their jobs entirely. --UCDAvis study