Rashomon, Working Wives, and Family Division of Labor: Middletown, 1980

Abstract

Using data from a random sample (N = 316) of currently married adults, loglinear techniques are used to examine five aspects of household division of labor between husbands and wives as these relate to sex of respondent, labor-force status of the wife, and other independent variables. The items-preparing meals, paying bills, performing home repairs, child discipline, and taking a child to the doctor -all show strong perception differences by sex of respondent. Work status of the wife affects the perceived division of labor, but not for all items. The impact of wife's work status is invariant across categories of theoretically interesting additional variables, and sex perception differences are invariant across categories of all other variables. Implications of the findings are developed for sex-role and household decision-making theory.