Employment, age and children: How do they affect the division of household labour?

As women’s involvement in the paid labour force increased, social researchers believed that this would transfer to an increase in men’s involvement in domestic labour. However, this has not been realised to any great extent (see Hochschild, 1989). Through the examination of different life course groups, this paper outlines responsibility for housework and childrearing tasks. This analysis finds that men mainly participate in ‘outdoor jobs’, and women are responsible for ‘indoor jobs’, but notes significant differences by life course groups—young women and men who do not have children have a much more equitable division of household labour than people with children. Further, the experiences of respondent’s employment status and age are considered. This investigation finds that while being at a particular life course stage predicts responsibility for household labour, age does not impact on impact on the distribution, and women’s employment has some impact on ‘indoor’ tasks. This suggests that younger generations are subject to the same division of household labour as older cohorts, and involvement in the labour force does little to moderate responsibility. Implications for demographic behaviour are discussed.