Gender equality in the domestic division of labour

Question 1

The domestic division of labour has become more since the 1950s.

Answer 1

Numerous surveys carried out since the 1950s show a narrowing of the gender gap in the domestic division of laobur.
Liberal Feminists and Young and Wilmott would argue that this is because more women are in paid work and families become more symmetrical.
Another reason for this is the ‘commercialisation of housework’ – New technologies such as washing machines, hoovers and fridge-freezers (think ready meals) have reduced the amount of housework that needs doing and narrows the gender divide in the domestic division of labour.

Question 2

Historic Evidence of gender inequality in the domestic division of labourA 2019 study UCL study based on interviews with 8 500 opposite sex couples found that:

Answer 2

Women do 16 hours of household chores every week, men do closer to six.
Women did the bulk of the domestic chores in 93 per cent of couples .
There was a 50-50 split of domestic chores in 6% of couples

Question 3

Who does the Housework? Men or Women?

Answer 3

Looking at the above statistics it seems reasonable to conclude that Radical Feminist concepts such as the dual burden and the triple shift still apply.
We can also conclude that women going into paid work has not yet resulted in total equality in the domestic division of labour.
It also seems reasonable to assume that there may be social class differences in the gendered division of labour