Authors
John P Robinson, Melissa A Milkie
Publication date
1998/2/1
Journal
Journal of Marriage and the Family
Pages
205-218
Publisher
National Council on Family Relations
Description
Missing from the expanding literature on the division of household labor and perceptions of equity is an understanding of basic attitudes toward housework. We examine whether changes in women's roles have been accompanied by a psychological disinvestment in housework (e.g., in standards) over time. Such a change might speak to the relatively little distress noted by researchers when husbands contribute minimally. We also argue that role overload and conflicts over the division of labor may be expressed in terms of unhappiness with home cleanliness. Using 1975 and 1995 national probability samples, we find, unexpectedly, that women in 1995 report similar attitudes about housecleaning as women in 1975, though there is some evidence that cultural standards have declined. We do find that marriage, motherhood, and employment predict lower satisfaction with home cleanliness.
Total citations
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