Domestic Labor: Gender Differences of Time Spent on Housework

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Domestic Labor: Gender Differences of Time Spent on Housework

Journal Title: Демографія та соціальна економіка - Year 2013, Vol 20, Issue

Abstract

Time spent on paid work in Ukraine is quite regularly studied in the framework of population surveys (households) on economic activity, while at the same time the problem of the time spent doing housework is studied sporadically and only in the context of more large-scale surveys. The economic essence of housework leads many to search for different approaches to its valuation. However, the complexity, methodological limitations, controversial nature of the many proposed evaluations determines the need to use time as a measure of housework cost. In 2004 Ukraine joined the European Social Survey (ESS). The data provided by the ESS project creates a unique opportunity for comparing quantitative indicators of the European countries’ development. The main tasks of the fifth round (2010) were studying the experience of work and the identification of conflict between work and family obligations, finding time spent on paid work and domestic work of the respondents and their partners. The purpose of our research is to provide an analysis of the time spent on housework for women and men who have paid work, to identify the gender differences in this field, to compare the situation in Ukraine and other European countries. This paper goes back to one of the main approaches that have commonly been used in the study of household division of labor – the theory of time availability. According to this theory, the spouse who spends more time on paid work reduces their participation in housework. The results of the survey reveal that in Ukraine women aged 20–49 years who had paid work and have never been married spend on average 17 hours a week on housework. Already at the first stage of family life cycle, even when there are no children, domestic work is more time-consuming than it was in the period before marriage. In most countries the time spent on housework increases in both women and men. However, in Ukraine, as well as in Poland and Estonia marriage helps men to reduce their time spent on housework. The presence of children in the family further increases the time spent on homework (in this survey the time spent on childcare was not considered), and deepens the gender differences. In many European countries the average indicator of time spent on domestic work for women aged 20–49 who were married and had children and had paid work does not exceed 20 hours a week, but in Ukraine this indicator was 24.6 hours (for reference, in Norway women spend 12.8 hours per week on housework). In Ukraine, men’s average housework time was also the highest among European countries (14.5 hours per week), but despite that gender difference turned out to be very significant. In order to verify the correctness of the theory of time availability, we have examined the responses of three groups of women: 1) those who spend time on paid work as much as their husbands, 2) those who spend more time on paid work than their husbands, and 3) those who spend less time on paid work than their husbands. In many European countries the average time spent on housework of women who spend less time on paid work than their husbands was more than time of women who spend on paid work as much as their husbands. The average time spent on housework labor among women who devote paid work more time than their husbands was the smallest among the considered groups. These results support the theory of time availability. Unlike many European countries in Ukraine women who are more active in the labor market are also more active in the domain of housework. For the majority of Ukrainian women it is important to be successful in all areas of life. At the same time, problems of development of the domestic services market make it difficult to perform household responsibilities on desired (for women) level without significant losses of time.

Authors and Affiliations

S. Y. Aksyonova

Keywords

EP ID EP287233
DOI 10.15407/dse2013.02.125
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