Division of Household Labor among Black Couples and White Couples

Abstract

Research consistently documents that women do most of the housework and childcare within thefamily, but the explanation for gender inequity within the home is not well understood. One explanation focuses on the distribution of structural resources by gender, which in turn influences the division of household labor. Another concentrates on cultural expectations aboutgendered responsibilities in the home. We argue that an adequate explanation must integrate both structural and culturalfactors. We also assess the effect of husbands'participation in home labor on marital well-beingfor black andfor white wives. The sample is representative offirst marrages of blacks and whites in an urban county. Findings show thatpart of the effect of relative resources on the allocation of home labor is due to their mutual association with couple norms. Further, husbands' participation in home labor is related positively to marital well-being but onlyfor black wives. In the past decade, much research has focused on gender inequity in the home. Recent findings show that women perform two to three times as much housework as their husbands or cohabiting partners (Demo & Acock 1993), but the explanation for this gender inequity in the home is not well understood. In contributing to