Division of household labour: Facts and judgements

In this paper the division of household labour between partners is analyzed, based on data of the International Social Justice Project of 1990. We compare the results of four countries: japan, Russia, The Netherlands, and the USA. Explanations for the division of housework may be found in economic and sociological theories. We first provide a short description of these theories. Then the theories are confronted with the data, using ordered response models. Our analysis leads to the conclusion that in The Netherlands and the USA economic variables have a significant effect on the division of houswork but this is not (yet) the case in Japan and Russia. Next we analyze the perception of justice in the division of housework. First we formulate theories that could tell us when a distribution would be called fair. An equal distribution of paid and unpaid labour is considered very fair by the majority of the Russian, Dutch and American men and women, but not by the Japanese population. According to the Japanese fairness increases if the wives do all the housework and the husbands have a fulltime paid job.