Explanations of Gender-Based Household Labor Divisions

A Cross-National Study

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to analyze gender-based divisions of household labor across countries by using the data of International Social Survey Programme conducted in the year of 2002. Results from a binomial logistic analysis indicate that the perspectives of relative resources (measured by education, family income), gender ideology (measured by gender role attitudes), and time availability (measured by working less than full-time) all receive support. Specifically, both wives' and husbands' educational backgrounds and family income, liberal gender ideology, or wives having full-time jobs reduce the likelihood of gender-based household labor divisions. The findings also indicate that households in countries with higher scores in gender empowerment measure less likely comply with the traditional pattern of divisions of household labor by gender. However, respondents from wealthy countries, such as the Netherlands and Japan, do not automatically show a high level of egalitarianism in sharing housework.