The Influence of Gender(a)typical Occupations on the Division of Domestic Labour within Couples

This article examines the role occupational sex segregation of both partners' jobs plays for the division of domestic labour in German dual-earner couples. To explain this relationship we contrast resource-based arguments and theories of gender role socialization with arguments from processes of "Doing Gender" and the compensation hypothesis. Analyses with data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1993-2011) suggest that women compensate a deviance from traditional gender roles by taking over more typically "feminine tasks" (such as washing, cooking, cleaning), whereas men seem to compensate this deviance by doing more typically "masculine tasks" (such as house repairs). In general, latter tasks are performed most seldom if a person works in a gender-balanced occupation. Apparently, deviance from traditional gender roles in context of the labour market is relevant for women as well as for men. This deviance is compensated mainly by household tasks that are traditionally ascribed to their gender.