Graduation Date
Spring 2025
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Public Sociology
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Mary Virnoche
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. Joshua Meisel
Keywords
Fairness of household labor, Division of household labor, Gendered division of household labor
Subject Categories
Sociology
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to examine change in the gendered division of household labor between the 1980s and early 2000s. The division of household labor has historically been inequitable reflecting parallel social hierarchies, power imbalances, and systemic inequalities outside the home.
I used a cohort sample of 1,157 respondents combined from the 1988 Wave 1 of the National Survey of Family and Households (NSFH) and the 2003 Wave 3 to test four hypotheses related to gender and household labor. I found that between 1988 and 2003, the gender gap closed in mean hours a week devoted to indoor and outdoor chores. Although with this shift, respondents reported a decrease in beliefs of fairness in the division of household labor within their home.
Overall, the findings from this analysis were inconsistent with literature on the distribution of household labor.
Citation Style
ASA 7th edition
Recommended Citation
Provins, Madeline Rose, "Comparison of the division and fairness of household labor between the 1980s and early 2000s" (2025). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2280.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2280
Included in
Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Work, Economy and Organizations Commons