Husbands' Involvement in Female Gender-Typed Household Chores I

Using data from the National Survey of Children (sample is 89% White, 9% Black, 2% Hispanic or other), this paper examines levels and correlates o f husbands' involvement in traditionally female household chores. Analyses reveal that the vast majority o f wives assume primary responsibility for these daily and non-daily tasks. Only about one-fifih o f husbands are involved fully in these activities. OLS and logistic regression models show that structural and ideational variables with respect to women are the strongest predictors o f men's involvement. Resource, time availability, socialization, and life course models o f husbands' household labor all garner significant support, and family process is a significant factor as well. This study demonstrates important interactive effects between predictors, thus suggesting the need for synthesizing various theoretical perspectives on the household division of labor.