A Changing Domestic Division of Labour? Issues of Measurement and Interpretation

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Abstract
This paper is concerned to evaluate recent arguments about changes in the domestic division of labour. To this end it identifies different positions on the issue in the literature and deploys some evidence from a survey in Greater Manchester in 1990 to try to discriminate between competing views. We report findings, regarding couple households, about the sex-stereotyping of domestic tasks and about differences in the domestic labour contributions of wives, husbands and young people living in their parental home. The key determinants of variation among households are isolated. We explore attitudes towards sharing and fairness. The results suggest that, with some qualifications, gender stereotyping of specific domestic tasks and unequal contributions between men and women cannot have shifted much in recent years.