The Relevance of Women's Income on Household Gender Inequality Across Class and National Context

• In Event: 381 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 11. Gender Inequality

Abstract

Research into the domestic division of labor is still working to account for why, despite their increasing economic contributions to household earnings, women still perform the majority of household work. This study contributes to research on household labor by combining literature on macro-comparative approaches to household work with classed based masculinities and exchange theory to situate household level interactional dynamics within their classed and national contexts. Using data from the 1994 and 2002 “Family and Changing Gender Roles” modules of the International Social Survey Program, we investigate the impact of women’s proportional income contribution on the domestic division of labor in three countries, the United States, Germany and Sweden. We find that class shapes the salience of income differences between heterosexual couples that inform housework; these then mediate the macro level effects of national norms and policies on individual behavior. However, these mediations occur in unexpected ways. While class becomes relevant in activating the equalizing effect of women’s proportional income (WPI) on household labor in middle income households in Sweden and Germany, WPI is only activated in the low and high income groups in the United States. These findings emphasize the importance of class-based meanings around women’s income and emphasize the need for further consideration into how and why these vary across macro-level contexts.

Authors

• Merin Oleschuk, University of Toronto

• Blair Wheaton, University of Toronto