Who is (Not) Doing the Housework? Dual-Earner Families, Outsourcing, and Work-Family Balance

• In Event: 054 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. Domestic and Reproductive Labor

Abstract

This research investigates the trend of outsourcing household labor. Using a sample of dual-earner mothers from The 500 Family Study Parent Data (N=330), this study tests the relationship between five categories of individual and family characteristics and the likelihood of outsourcing household labor. The findings show that household income, women’s proportional income, and women’s education are the most predictive characteristics of the number of tasks outsourced. When looking at the frequency of outsourcing, gender inequality in the division of household labor is also predictive. Finally the task-by-task analysis shows a great deal of variation in the predictors of outsourcing. Interestingly, outsourcing cleaning the home—a traditionally feminine task—is driven by both gendered power relations and gender inequality. This study suggests that dual-earner mothers can utilize their family’s class and their individual power within their households to respond to gender inequality within the home by outsourcing household labor.

Author

• Jamie Lynn Oslawski-Lopez, Indiana University