Household Gender Roles

Written by: Abisola Ogundiran - March 7, 2021

Introduction

The popular gender roles that we are familiar with today are the product of the industrial revolution that started around 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. Before this event, most of the workforce was concentrated in the agricultural sectors, and it was common for families to farm, spin a yarn or weave cloth together.

During the industrial revolution, men began to work long laborious hours far from home and are typically viewed as “breadwinners” while most women were forced to stay at home, to take care of the family and the term “house-wives” became prominent.

Unfortunately, as more and more women venture into the workforce, and the ever-increasing two-income family households, house-chores are still considered a women's job, and females mostly do it in the house.

According to the research done by University College London (UCL), using data from 8,500 heterosexual couples in the UK, Women spend around 16 hours doing household chores every week, compared to men who only do 6 hours. Additionally, women did the bulk of the domestic duties in 93 percent of the couples analyzed.

In a similar study by Springer Journals, with 900 participants, grouped into ages 25, 32, and 43. At 25, the partner with the lowest income tend to more household chores, but as they grow older, women tend to do more, especially when it comes to raising children.

Even though we see more and more egalitarian relationships, unfortunately, gender roles are not catching up fast enough.

Implication

One of the implications of these is that women have less time to work and earn less and are even forced to take time out of their work to take care of their family.

During the time of Covid 19, girls and young women are forced to take on more house chores and have less time for other things in their lives. According to a report published by UN Women, in September 2020, there is an increase in women’s economic insecurity, as the pandemics lead to a greater poverty level in women, an increasing gender wage gap, and more women losing their jobs. 

It should be noted that while women make up about 39% of the global workforce, 54 percent of all job losses are women.

According to MSN, 66 percent of girls and women ages between 14 and 24 spend more of their time doing household chores and cooking for their family since the outbreak of covid-19 disease, while 1 in 5 girls expressed negative mental impact this is having on their health.

In a poll organized by Conair in celebration of International Women's Day, 67% of the women inferred that their partner has taken fewer roles, while 47% of them stated that they feel pressured to "do it all". Unfortunately, as women take on more roles, they have less time for themselves and do things like having a good sleep, doing their skincare routine, meditation, or hairdo.

Conclusion

According to UN Women's chief statistician, Papa Seck, "We need to do better." Dr. Seck also noted that "Despite the clear gendered implications of crises, response and recovery efforts tend to ignore the needs of girls and women until it's too late."

This pandemic has exposed a lot of the flaws in our society and one of the most critical parts is the gender disparity in wages and household chores. It is time to have a closer look and address the issue.

Going forward, it is important to address traditional gender roles, and men should be encouraged to do more at home and help their partners.

Planning and sharing of tasks are important among partners, as well as the kids. More importantly, sharing this task should not be gender-based.

It should also be noted that yelling at everyone or nagging is not the solution. Incentives and words of encouragement would go a long way.

Policies like paid family and medical leave, and the elimination of the gender wage gap which will reduce sexist social and economic pressure and produce balance in families.

References

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-affect-did-industrial-revolution-have-gender-429241

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017019862153

https://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/research-news/all-english-research-news/household-chores--women-still-do-more-/15086994?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=3_nsn6445_brand_PID100069343&utm_content=de_textlink

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/9/feature-covid-19-economic-impacts-on-women

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/girls-doing-majority-of-household-chores-during-lockdown-compared-with-boys/ar-BB1ebPqn

https://www.conair.com/c/1c3/hair-care-curling-irons/