The Gender Division of Paid and Domestic Work

Abstract

What does a tempor al perspective contribute to our unde rstanding of the dynamics of the socially gendered division in our societies? What are the implications of the changes taking place in the sphere of paid work for domestic and gender relations? The links between the feminization of the working population and the evolution of the gender division of labour show how important it is to view social relations between the genders against the background of the wider dynamics of social differentiation and polarization. And the contemporary forms of temporal availability at work can be seen as obstacles on the way to an actual and progressive reduction in working time, as the French experience shows.