Domestic division of labour refers to the roles that men and women play in relation to housework, childcare and paid work.
This links to Bott's (1957) indentification of 2 types of conjugal roles:
Joint Conjugal Roles: husband and wife share responsibilities, decision making and leisure activites.
Segregated Conjugal Roles: this is where the husband and wife lead largely seperate lives and have sharply differentiated roles within the family.
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DDoL - The commercialisation of hourswork
Online delivery of shopping is time and labour saving, especially to women.
Technologies such as microwaves, freezers and processed foods save time.
Dining out and take-away food frees women from having to cook and wash up.
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DDoL - The impact of pain work
Paid employment would seem to empower women within the family.
On average, the more hours a woman is employed outside the home, the more domestic work appears to be shared.
With many women working unsocial hours (evenings or weekends), men are increasingly having to take care of children.
Man-Yee-Kan (2001): income, education and age affects how much housework a woman does, e.g. the better educated, better paid and younger the woman is the less housework they do.
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DDoL - The dual burden
Many feminists argue that despite women working, there is little evidence of the 'new man'.
Women have simply acquired a dual burden of paid work and unpaid housework.
Ferri and Smith: increased employment outside the home has little impact of the domestic division of labour.
Their research shows that the father took the main responsibility for childcare in fewer than 4% of families.
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DDoL - The 'triple shift'
Duncombe and Marsdsen (1993): interviewed 40 white couples who had been married 15 years and found women typically experienced what they termed an 'emotional loneliness'.
They argue women are expected to not only do a double shift of both housework and paid work but also a triple shift that includes emotion work. David Morgan proves this through the care of a sick child.
Giddens (1992): women are increasingly seeking a 'haven in a heartless world' through greater emotional and sexual openness.
Mansfield and Collard (1989): the newly-married wives were deeply disappointed with the lack of emotional reciprocity in their marriages.
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DDoL - Power and Authority
Edgell study of Middle Class Couples (1980): interviewed both husbands and wives from a sample of 38 professional couples.
He found women controlled decision making in a number of areas, food purchases, children's clothing and household decoration.
However, couples did not see these decisions as important.
Husbands had the main say in what were regarded as 'serious' decisions, e.g. moving house and buying expensive items.
Pahl and Vogler: family income was pooled if both partners worked full time but men still make major financial decisions.
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