Gender, Domesticity & Technology

 

I.  Households in the U.S.

         Alt2007

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

 

 

Feminization of poverty