Domestic Division of Labor

Domestic labor refers to the unpaid caring and housework tasks undertaken within households to provide for the needs of family and other household members. Activities in Western societies typically encompass a range of tasks such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, gardening, pet care, and household repairs, in addition to child care and obtaining goods and services. This work is often referred to as committed time in the literature on time use. Domestic labor is an important component of gender-identity formation with much research arguing that the performance of housework produces gender, at the same time as accomplishing domestic activities. It may also be argued that domestic labor is an increasingly important component of consumer identity, particularly as it encompasses outsourcing of some domestic work to certain ...