The Household Division of Labour Changes in Families Allocation of Paid and Unpaid Work ESRC Gender Equality Network 6 th December 2005 Susan Harkness

The Household Division of LabourChanges in Families Allocation of Paid and

Unpaid Work

ESRC Gender Equality Network6th December 2005

Susan HarknessUniversity of Bristol

Aims• Recent decades have seen a rapid rise in female

employment. – What effect has this had on patterns of household

employment?– How have total hours of paid work changed within

households?– How have total hours of household work responded to

these changes?– How have these changes been reflected in the division

of household tasks?

Employment• Strong growth in female employment, particularly

among those with young children.– Between 1992 and 2002 among 25-49 year olds:

• female employment increased by 6 percentage points to 73%.

• for those with under 5s employment grew by 11 percentage points to 55%.

• Little change in male employment.• Among couples, rise in 2 earner families.• Rise in employment among lone parent families

Family Employment PatternsMarried and Cohabiting Couples:

Aged 25-49, 1992-2002

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102

Both FT Male FT, Female PT Male breadwinner Female breadwinner No Earner

Lone Parents Employment and Non-Employment

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year

Em

plo

ym

en

t R

ate

EmployedNot employed

Household Work Patterns (Age 25-49)

1992 2002 Change 1992 2002 Change 1992 2002 Change 1992 2002 Change

All No Kids Kids <16 Kids <5

Couples

Two earners 64.5 71.9 +7.4 76.2 81.4 +5.2 57.6 66.2 +8.6 44.6 56.4 +11.8

Both FT 31.6 37.6 +6.0 54.5 66.4 +11.9 19.2 23.5 +4.3 13.0 17.2 +4.2

Female PT 32.9 34.3 +1.4 21.7 17.0 -4.7 38.4 42.7 +4.2 31.6 39.2 +7.6

Male Breadwinner 23.6 19.5 -4.1 13.4 8.9 -4.5 29.5 25.0 -4.5 41.7 35.3 -6.4

Female Breadwinner 4.2 3.5 -0.7 5.6 4.0 -1.6 3.4 3.1 -0.3 2.6 2.3 -0.3

No Earner 7.7 5.0 -2.7 4.8 3.7 -1.1 9.4 5.6 -3.8 11.1 6.0 -5.1

Single Women Employed 59.8 66.0 +6.2 77.3 81.6 +4.3 40.6 53.0 +12.4 23.8 39.0 +15.2

Full-t ime 43.1 45.7 +2.6 66.6 72.7 +6.1 18.0 22.3 +4.3 8.8 13.3 +4.5

Single Men Employed 72.1 79.4 +7.3 75.1 79.9 +4.8 - - - - - -

Differences by EducationAll, 2002

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

Both FT Male FT,Female PT

Malebreadw inner

Femalebreadw inner

No earner

low middle high

Differences by Education1992, all

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5


Malebreadw inner

Femalebreadw inner

No earner

low middle high

All, 2002

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5


Malebreadw inner

Femalebreadw inner

No earner

low middle high

Kids under 5Children Under 5, 2002

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

Both FT Male FT, Female PT Male breadw inner Femalebreadw inner

No earner

low middle high

Kids under 5Children Under 5, 1992

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5


No earner

low middle high

Children Under 5, 2002

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5


No earner

low middle high

Hours of Work: Women• Over the decade women have seen increases in their

average hours of work from 20 to 23 hours per week.

• This is due to changing employment patterns, and increases in hours worked by part time women.

• Women in “dual career” couples work an average of 40 hours, and their hours of work are similar whether or not they have children.– Little accommodation in working hours for those with children,

Instead any adjustments in working hours rely on women moving out of the labour force or into part-time work.

Usual Hours of Work


All No Kids Kids <16 Kids <5

Women

All 20.4 23.3 +2.9 28.6 32.5 +3.9 15.1 18.0 +2.9 10.7 14.4 +3.7

Married / Cohabiting 20.1 23.2 +3.1 28.2 32.4 +4.2 15.7 18.9 +3.2 11.3 15.0 +3.7

Two earner 29.2 30.7 +1.5 34.6 37.2 +2.6 25.5 26.9 +1.4 23.6 25.3 +1.7

Both FT 41.2 40.6 -0.6 41.4 41.7 0 40.9 40.1 -0.8 40.6 40.1 -0.5

Female PT 18.7 20.9 +2.2 20.8 23.6 +2.8 18.1 20.3 +2.2 16.6 19.3 =2.7

Female Breadwinner 29.8 30.7 +0.9 33.8 35.2 +1.4 26.6 28.1 +1.5 27.1 26.6 -0.5

Single Women Employed 34.7 34.7 0 38.9 40.2 +1.3 26.8 28.0 +1.2 23.1 27.8 +4.7

FT 41.9 42.1 +0.2 42.3 43.0 +0.7 40.6 39.7 -0.9 39.5 39.3 -0.2

PT 16.5 18.3 +1.8 19.4 20.1 +0.7 15.3 17.9 +2.6 13.5 17.0 +3.5

Men

All 39.9 40.1 +0.2 38.7 39.2 +0.5 40.7 40.9 +0.2 40.2 40.7 +0.5


Two earner 46.6 45.2 -0.6 46.1 44.8 -1.3 46.9 46.3 -0.6 47.5 45.4 -2.1

Both FT 47.5 45.2 -2.3 46.9 45.1 -1.8 48.3 46.2 -2.1 47.5 44.8 -2.7

Female PT 46.7 45.8 -0.9 46.0 43.8 -2.2 46.9 46.2 -0.7 46.8 45.8 -1.0


Single Men Employed 44.4 43.8 -0.6 44.6 44.1 -0.5 - - - - - -

Hours of Work: Men• Small decline in hours of work over the decade.

• But fathers continue to work longer hours than men without children.

• This remains true even where their partner works full-time.

Total Household Hours of Work

• For married / cohabiting couples total hours of work grew by 3 hours to 64 hours over the decade.

• Most of this rise is due to increasing employment.

• For those in dual career households a total of 86 hours are supplied. – This is little change over the decade

– BUT this work pattern is increasingly observed.

Hours of Work by Education, Aged 25-49, 1992 and 2002


a) HIGHER All No Kids Kids <16 Kids <5

Women

All 29.1 31.4 +2.3 37.4 39.4 +2.0 23.2 24.8 +1.6 18.1 21.3 +3.2

Married / cohabiting 27.0 29.5 +2.5 36.3 38.6 +2.3 22.1 24.3 +2.2 17.9 21.1 +3.2

Two earner 33.1 34.2 +1.1 39.3 40.8 +1.5 29.2 29.8 +0.6 27.3 28.8 +1.5

Both FT 42.6 43.2 -0.6 42.9 43.7 +0.8 42.0 42.4 -0.4 41.8 42.1 -0.3

Female Breadwinner 36.1 37.9 +1.8 38.0 41.6 +3.3 34.2 35.8 +1.6 33.7 31.7 -2.0

Single Women in work 40.4 40.0 -0.4 42.1 42.4 +0.3 34.2 33.8 -0.4 29.7 34.9 +5.2

Men

All 44.2 43.0 -1.2 42.5 42.0 -0.5 45.5 43.7 -1.8 45.3 43.2 -2.1

Married / Cohabiting 45.2 43.7 -1.5 44.2 42.9 -1.3 45.7 44.0 -1.7 45.5 43.6 -1.9

Two earner 46.4 44.9 -1.5 45.6 44.4 -1.2 46.9 45.1 -1.8 46.7 45.1 -1.6

Both FT 46.5 45.7 -0.8 45.7 45.4 -0.3 47.8 46.1 -1.7 47.9 45.3 -2.6


Single Men in work 44.7 43.9 -0.8 46.7 44.0 -2.7 - - - - - -

Hours of Work by Education, Aged 25-49, 1992 and 2002


LOW All No Kids

Kids <16

Kids <5

Women 17.9 19.3 +1.4 25.0 27.0 +2.0 13.2 15.2 +2.0 8.5 10.7 +2.2


Two earner 27.8 28.8 +1.0 32.3 34.2 +1.9 24.2 25.6 +1.4 21.9 23.1 +1.2

Both FT 40.7 39.6 -1.1 40.9 40.3 -0.6 40.7 38.8 -1.9 40.3 38.4 -1.9

Female Breadwinner 28.0 27.4 -0.6 31.2 31.4 +0.2 25.3 24.8 -0.5 24.9 23.0 -1.9

Single Women working 31.8 31.0 -0.7 36.3 37.2 +0.9 24.5 25.5 +1.0 21.1 24.4 +3.3

Men 37.5 37.1 -0.4 36.8 35.9 -0.9 38.0 38.0 0 37.1 37.8 +0.7


Two earner 46.5 45.2 -1.3 46.3 45.1 -1.2 46.6 45.3 -1.3 46.5 46.6 +0.14

Both FT 47.9 46.2 -1.7 47.5 45.8 -1.7 48.5 46.5 -2.0 47.1 45.8 -1.3

Male Breadwinner 46.8 43.7 -3.1 46.4 46.8 +0.4 46.9 43.2 -3.7 46.7 46.9 +0.23

Single Men Employed 44.0 42.9 -1.1 44.2 43.3 -0.9 - - - - - -

Earnings• Fall in the gender pay gap for FT workers to 17

percent in 2005. • Earnings of married / cohabiting women relative

to their partners have risen from 60 to 65 percent over the decade.

• The proportion of women earning 90 percent or more of their partners’ weekly wage grew from 19 to 23 percent.

• In dual career couples, 42 percent of those without children and 28 percent of those with earned more than their partners.

Home time• What are the implications for the division of

labour within the home?– Specialisation models / Bargaining theories

• More egalitarian division of labour within the home.

• Substitution away from home production (meals out, cleaners, ready meals etc).

– Preference / Identity models • Double burden

Division of Household Labour

Man FT, Woman PT Grocery shopping? 71.8 6.1 22.2 0.0 Cooking? 77.1 5.7 16.9 0.3 Cleaning? 79.9 2.9 12.4 4.8 Washing /ironing? 88.3 0.5 9.0 2.2

Who does the … Mostly self Mostly partner Shared Paid help / other All

Grocery shopping? 59.8 8.6 31.3 0.4 Cooking? 65.6 9.8 24.0 0.7 Cleaning? 69.3 4.0 21.2 5.6 Washing /ironing? 79.2 2.7 16.2 1.9

Male Breadwinner Grocery shopping? 65.5 5.3 28.4 0.9 Cooking? 78.0 4.6 16.4 0.5 Cleaning? 80.5 3.1 12.2 4.3 Washing /ironing? 87.0 1.6 9.7 1.8

Division of Household Labour Who does the … Mostly self Mostly partner Shared Paid help / other

Both FT Grocery shopping? 47.7 11.1 40.3 0.9 Cooking? 51.5 13.7 33.7 1.0 Cleaning? 58.9 4.0 29.9 5.9 Washing /ironing? 70.4 3.5 24.9 1.1

Women earns >.9 of Male Weekly Earnings Grocery shopping? 47.2 8.6 43.7 0.5 Cooking? 50.3 16.0 33.0 0.8 Cleaning? 50.3 4.3 35.8 9.7 Washing /ironing? 69.9 3.2 25.3 1.6

Female Breadwinner

Grocery shopping? 41.9 26.7 31.4 0 Cooking? 42.4 25.1 31.1 1.4 Cleaning? 43.7 16.7 35.0 4.6 Washing /ironing? 62.5 9.7 27.8 0

Division of Household Labour

All respondent Most respondent Share with partner Mostly Partner All Partner Other Responsible for childcare? All 66.1 2.3 30.6 1.0 Both FT 38.2 2.9 57.3 1.7 Woman PT 77.4 1.1 21.4 0 MBW 85.5 0.6 13.0 1.0 FBW 24.8 8.6 63.7 2.9 No earner 48.5 8.9 40.2 2.4 Woman earns >.9 male weekly wage

37.8 2.0 60.2 0

In work Only:

Who pays for childcare? All in work 57.8 1.4 34.5 2.3 3.1 0.8 Both FT 43.7 2.5 47.9 3.5 Woman PT 60.4 1.0 32.0 6.6 Woman earns >.9 partner’s weekly wage

32.4 0 63.8 3.8

Respondent Partner Other / varies Who nurses sick children? All 73.4 9.0 18.0 Both FT 65.8 11.0 23.2 Woman PT 77.2 6.8 16.0 Woman earns >.9 partner's weekly wage

60.9 14.0 25.1

Hours of Non Market Work

1992 2001 1992 2001 1992 2001 1992 2001

ALL NO KIDS KIDS KIDS <5

Women 19.9 16.6 14.1 11.5 24.4 20.2 25.5 21.5

Married / Cohabiting 21.4 17.7 16.3 13.1 24.7 20.3 25.8 20.8

Two earner 18.8 15.7 15.2 12.2 21.8 18.2 21.2 16.9

Both FT 13.9 12.1 12.4 10.3 17.1 14.6 14.1 11.8

Woman PT 23.3 20.0 21.7 19.0 23.8 20.2 23.2 18.9

Male Breadwinner 28.2 23.4 24.2 18.1 29.2 24.5 29.1 24.7

Female Breadwinner 16.9 15.3 12.7 12.1 22.9 17.3 22.2 23.8

No earners 27.7 25.7 21.0 20.6 30.2 29.2 31.8 34.0

Single Women 10.8 10.4 13.4 12.3 22.5 19.7 26.1 31.9

FT 8.5 8.7 7.4 7.9 14.2 12.5 - -

PT 18.6 16.1 - - 27.1 23.7 - -

Not employed 22.3 20.1 13.4 12.3 17.2 15.8 16.0 12.6

Hours of Non-Market Work

1992 2001 1992 2001 1992 2001 1992 2001

ALL NO

KIDS

KIDS KIDS

<5

Men 5.5 5.5 5.7 5.5 5.4 5.5 5.4 5.4

Married / Cohabiting 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.3

Two earner 5.1 5.3 5.0 5.3 5.1 5.3 5.6 5.6

Both FT 5.6 5.8 5.4 5.5 6.1 6.2 5.8 6.1

Male Breadwinner 3.7 4.0 4.8 3.8 3.5 4.1 3.8 3.6

Female Breadwinner 10.3 10.3 9.1 9.1 11.3 11.1 10.8 10.2

No earners 8.5 9.2 7.8 10.4 8.6 8.9 9.2 9.9

Single Men Employed 5.4 5.6 9.1 6.9 - - - -

Not employed 10.1 7.7 5.4 5.4 - - - -

Hours of Market and Unpaid Work and Relative Earnings

Market House Market House All

Weekly Ratio >1.1 Men 44.3 5.0 41.2 7.2 Women 41.8 12.4 41.4 10.8

Ratio 0.9 to1.1

Men 46.8 5.6 45.9 4.9 Women 40.5 11.7 42.1 10.9

Ratio <0.9

Men 45.9 5.3 46.8 4.9 Women 28.5 19.2 29.8 16.8

Hours of Market and Unpaid Work and Relative Earnings: Families with Children

Kids

Weekly Ratio >1.1 Men 38.0 5.6 40.8 6.7 Women 46.7 14.8 40.1 13.1

Ratio 0.9 to1.1

Men 39.8 5.3 41.5 5.5 Women 43.2 13.8 47.5 13.3

Ratio <0.9

Men 46.4 5.3 46.5 5.1 Women 24.1 21.5 26.6 19.0

Hours of Market and Unpaid Work and Relative Earnings: No Children

No kids Weekly Ratio >1.1

Men 42.6 4.6 41.7 7.4 Women 44.5 10.7 41.7 9.6

Ratio 0.9 to1.1

Men 46.4 5.6 45.0 4.5 Women 40.7 10.3 42.4 9.5

Ratio <0.9

Men 45.0 5.3 47.3 4.7 Women 34.9 16.0 36.4 12.2

Conclusions• Rapid rise in female employment has led to a radical change in

family employment structures.• Organisation of time within organisations and the home have been

slow to respond to these changes.• This has lead to increasing time pressure, particularly among

women in dual career couples and single parents working full-time.

• The problem of long working hours is particularly prevalent among the well educates:– In 2002 couples where women had some higher education worked on

average 73 hours / week, compared to 60 hours or less for those with O levels or less.

– This difference is even starker among those with pre-school children (hours are 65 and 50 / week respectively).

Conclusions

• Assumption that children only effect women’s time use remains largely true: – there is no evidence of men reducing their work hours to

accommodate their partners increasing labour supply.– While dual career dads do 6 hours more unpaid work per week

than those who are male breadwinners, women, they do considerably less than their partners.

– Where women earn as much as their partners tasks are slightly more evenly split, and these households are particularly likely to “buy back” time,

– But even in these households 60 percent of women take time off to look after sick children, and nannies and other paid help are more likely to do so than fathers.

Documents

The Household Division of Labour Changes in Families Allocation of Paid and Unpaid Work ESRC Gender Equality Network 6 th December 2005 Susan Harkness