The Division of Housework among Female Managers in Japan

• In Event: 308 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 10. Gender, Work and Family: Session III

Abstract

This study analyzes how female managers use their power and authority in negotiating the division of housework with their husbands. Using survey data from a large sample of female and male managers in large Japanese corporations, the study is among the first to examine quantitatively the division of housework among managers in Japan. The results indicate that female managers perform the majority of housework and that their higher position in the workplace hierarchy does not give them additional power in housework negotiations. In addition, women’s higher income does not have a significant impact in leading to a more egalitarian division of household labor. Neither the resource-based perspective nor the gender display hypothesis is supported among this sample of managers in Japan.

Author

• Makiko Fuwa, Tokyo Metropolitan University