The Gendered (De)Valuation of Housework: An Experimental Vignette Study of Household Task Perceptions

• In Event: 20217 - Care (about) Work: At Home and in the Organization

Abstract

Devaluation theories posit that low-status work will be disproportionately allocated to low-status actors (such as women, relative to men), and that tasks culturally associated with low-status actors will be devalued. These theories help explain gender inequalities in paid work but have not been empirically tested in the realm of unpaid work. Results from a survey experiment conducted with a nationally representative sample of American adults (N=2,495) show that, consistent with prior theory, female-typed household tasks are devalued relative to male-typed household tasks. However, counter to prior theory, we find that household tasks completed by women are assessed as more valuable—and more personally costly—than the same tasks completed by men. These results indicate that gendered valuation processes operate differently in the realm of paid and unpaid work and, further, suggest that while Americans recognize the costs women incur through their unpaid labor, these costs may be seen as offset by the greater value women produce for their families.

Authors

• Allison Daminger, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• So Yun Park, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Jaclyn S. Wong, Langer Research Associates