Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Theoretical Background

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Time Use in Domestic Settings Throughout the Life Course

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Sociology ((BRIEFSSOCY))

  • 214 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter is the theoretical backbone of the volume, offering a comprehensive overview of the theories and literature concerning the three cornerstones of domestic work: housework, childcare and adult care. The chapter provides a broad overview of gender inequalities in domestic work and engages in a detailed review of the literature on the micro and macro determinants of housework in Italy and internationally. Theories of time availability, gender ideology and relative resources are discussed and then used throughout the volume to guide the interpretation of the findings. The chapter also engages with the theoretical accounts for time spent on childcare, in particular regarding intensive parenting styles and concerted cultivation. Finally, the chapter discusses time on adult care and its correlates, and provides a specific literature review about the determinants of housework time and participation among children, teenagers and young adults.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Álvarez, B., & Miles-Touya, D. (2012). Exploring the relationship between parents’ and children’s housework time in Spain. Review of Economics of the Household, 10(2), 299–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antill, J. K., Goodnow, J. J., Russell, G., & Cotton, S. (1996). The influence of parents and family context on children’s involvement in household tasks. Sex Roles, 34(3–4), 215–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anxo, D., Mencarini, L., Pailhé, A., Solaz, A., et al. (2011). Gender differences in time use over the life course in France, Italy, Sweden, and the US. Feminist Economics, 17(3), 159–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badinter, E. (2012). The conflict: How modern motherhood undermines the status of women. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Oxford, England: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbieri, P., & Bozzon, R. (2016). Welfare, labour market deregulation and households’ poverty risks: An analysis of the risk of entering poverty at childbirth in different European welfare clusters. Journal of European Social Policy, 26(2), 99–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, A. E. (2013). Pathways of adult children providing care to older parents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75(1), 178–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batalova, J. A., & Cohen, P. N. (2002). Premarital cohabitation and housework: Couples in cross-national perspective. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(3), 743–755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belloni, C., & Carriero, R. (2008). Il tempo dei bambini [Children’s Time]. In Romano (Ed.) I tempi della vita quotidiana. Un approccio multidisciplinare all’analisi dell’uso del tempo, pp. 175– 217. Roma: ISTAT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benin, M. H., & Edwards, D. A. (1990). Adolescents’ chores: The difference between dual-and single-earner families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 361–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bettio, F., Plantenga, J., & Smith, M. (Eds.). (2013). Gender and the European labour market. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi, S. M. (2000). Maternal employment and time with children: Dramatic change or surprising continuity? Demography, 37(4), 401–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billari, F. (2004). Becoming an adult in Europe: A macro (/micro)-demographic perspective. Demographic Research, 3, 15–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blair, S. L. (1992). Children’s participation in household labor: Child socialization versus the need for household labor. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 21(2), 241–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blair, S. L., & Lichter, D. T. (1991). Measuring the division of household labor: Gender segregation of housework among American couples. Journal of Family Issues, 12(1), 91–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bloch, M. N. (1987). The development of sex differences in young children’s activities at home: The effect of the social context. Sex Roles, 16(5–6), 279–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blood, R., & Wolfe, D. (1960). Husbands and wives: The dynamics of married living. New York, NY: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Boca, D., Pasqua, S., & Pronzato, C. (2004). Why are fertility and women’s employment rates so low in Italy? Lessons from France and the U.K. In IZA Discussion Paper Series 1274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonke, J. (2010). Children’s housework—Are girls more active than boys? Electronic International Journal of Time Use Research, 7(1), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breen, R., Luijkx, R., Muller, W., & Pollak, R. (2010). Long-term trends in educational inequality in Europe: Class inequalities and gender differences. European Sociological Review, 26(1), 31–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brines, J. (1994). Economic dependency, gender, and the division of labor at home. American Journal of Sociology, 652–688.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, R. S. (1987). Social contagion and innovation: Cohesion versus structural equivalence. American Journal of Sociology, 92, 1287–1335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carriero, R., & Todesco, L. (2011). La divisione del lavoro domestico: l’esempio dei genitori conta? Uno studio a Torino. Polis, 25(1), 37–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheal, D. (2003). Children’s home responsibilities: Factors predicting children’s household work. Social Behavior and Personality, 31(8), 789–794.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chesley, N., & Poppie, K. (2009). Assisting parents and in-laws: Gender, type of assistance, and couples’ employment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(2), 247–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. (1985). Theorizing gender. Sociology, 19, 260–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., & Jenkins, B. (2016a). Grandparental childcare in Australia: gender differences in the correlates of providing regular grandparental care while parents work. Community, Work and Family, 19(3), 281–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., & Jenkins, B. (2016b). The composition of parents’ and grandparents’ child-care time: Gender and generational patterns in activity, multi-tasking and co-presence. Ageing and Society, 36(04), 785–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., Mullan, K., & Blaxland, M. (2010). Parenthood, policy and work-family time in Australia 1992–2006. Work, Employment and Society, 24(1), 27–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., Powell, A., & Brown, J. E. (2015). Co-resident parents and young people aged 15–34: Who does what housework? Social Indicators Research, 121(2), 569–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., Powell, A., & Smyth, C. (2014). Towards intensive parenting? Changes in the composition and determinants of mothers’ and fathers’ time with children 1992–2006. The British journal of Sociology, 65(3), 555–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, M. (2001a). Parental influences on the gendered division of housework. American Sociological Review, 184–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, M. (2001b). The influence of parental attitudes and behaviors on children’s attitudes toward gender and household labor in early adulthood. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(1), 111–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalla Zuanna, G. (2001). The banquet of Aeolus: A familistic interpretation of Italy’s lowest low fertility. Demographic Research, 4(5), 133–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, S. N., & Greenstein, T. N. (2004). Cross-national variations in the division of household labor. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(5), 1260–1271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dotti Sani, G. M. (2012). La divisione del lavoro domestico e delle attività di cura nelle coppie italiane: un’analisi empirica. Stato e Mercato, 94(1), 161–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dotti Sani, G. M. (2014). Men’s employment hours and time on domestic chores in European countries. Journal of Family Issues, 35(8), 1023–1047.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dotti Sani, G. M., & Treas, J. (2016). Educational gradients in parents’ child-care time across countries, 1965–2012. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(4), 1083–1096.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duyvendak, J. W., & Stavenuiter, M. (2004). Working fathers, caring men. In Reconciliation of working life and family life. The Hague, the Netherlands: Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment/Verwey-Jonker Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • England, P., & Srivastava, A. (2013). Educational differences in US parents’ time spent in child care: The role of culture and cross-spouse influence. Social Science Research, 42(4), 971–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (2009). The incomplete revolution: Adapting to women’s new roles. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurostat. (2017). Employment, main characteristics and rates. Annual averages. Code: lfsi_emp_a. Retrieved July 7, 2017, from http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do.

  • Evertsson, M. (2006). The reproduction of gender: Housework and attitudes towards gender equality in the home among Swedish boys and girls. The British Journal of Sociology, 57(3), 415–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferree, M. M. (1990). Beyond separate spheres: Feminism and family research. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50(4), 866–884.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuwa, M. (2004). Macro-level gender inequality and the division of household labor in 22 countries. American Sociological Review, 69(6), 751–767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gager, C. T., Cooney, T. M., & Call, K. T. (1999). The effects of family characteristics and time use on teenagers’ household labor. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 982–994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gager, C. T., Sanchez, L. A., & Demaris, A. (2009). Whose time is it? The effect of employment and work/family stress on children’s housework. Journal of Family Issues, 30(11), 1459–1485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier, A. H., Smeeding, T. M., & Furstenberg, F. F. (2004). Are parents investing less time in children? Trends in selected industrialized countries. Population and Development Review, 30(4), 647–672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geist, C. (2005). The welfare state and the home: Regime differences in the domestic division of labour. European Sociological Review, 21(1), 23–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geist, C., & Cohen, P. N. (2011). Headed toward equality? Housework change in comparative perspective. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(4), 832–844.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gershuny, J. (2000). Changing times: Work and leisure in postindustrial society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerson, K. (2009). The unfinished revolution: How a new generation is reshaping family, work and gender in America. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gimenez-Nadal, J. I., & Molina, J. A. (2013). Parents’ education as a determinant of educational childcare time. Journal of Population Economics, 26(2), 719–749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenstein, T. N. (2000). Economic dependence, gender, and the division of labor in the home: A replication and extension. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(2), 322–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guryan, J., Hurst, E., & Kearney, M. (2008). Parental education and parental time with children. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(3), 23–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hank, K., & Jürges, H. (2007). Gender and the division of household labor in older couples. A European perspective, Journal of Family Issues, 28(3), 399–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hays, S. (1996). The cultural contradictions of motherhood. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henwood, K., & Procter, J. (2003). The “good father”: Reading men’s accounts of paternal involvement during the transition to first-time fatherhood. British Journal of Social Psychology, 42(3), 337–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henz, U. (2006). Informal caregiving at working age: Effects of job characteristics and family configuration. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68(2), 411–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henz, U. (2009). Couples’ provision of informal care for parents and parents-in-law: Far from sharing equally? Ageing and Society, 29(03), 369–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henz, U. (2010). Parent care as unpaid family labor: How do spouses share? Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(1), 148–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiller, D. V. (1984). Power dependence and division of family work. Sex Roles, 10(11–12), 1003–1019.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hochschild, A. (1989). The second shift: Working parents and the revolution at home. New York, NY: Viking.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hook, J. L. (2006). Care in context: Men’s unpaid work in 20 countries, 1965–2003. American Sociological Review, 71(4), 639–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hook, J. L. (2010). Gender inequality in the welfare state: Sex segregation in housework, 1965–2003. American Journal of Sociology, 115(5), 1480–1523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hook, J. L., & Wolfe, C. M. (2012). New fathers? Residential fathers’ time with children in four countries. Journal of Family Issues, 33(4), 415–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jappens, M., & Bavel, J. V. (2012). Regional family cultures and child care by grandparents in Europe. Demographic Research, 27(4), 85–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kan, M. Y., Sullivan, O., & Gershuny, J. (2011). Gender convergence in domestic work: Discerning the effects of interactional and institutional barriers from large-scale data. Sociology, 45(2), 234–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karamessini, M., & Rubery, J. (2014). Women and austerity. The economic crisis and the future for gender equality. New York and Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, J., & Connelly, R. (2007). Mothers’ time choices: Caregiving, leisure, home production, and paid work. Journal of Human Resources, 42(3), 643–681.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knudsen, K., & Wærness, K. (2001). National context, individual characteristics and attitudes on mothers’ employment: A comparative analysis of Great Britain, Sweden and Norway. Acta Sociologica, 44(1), 67–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knudsen, K., & Wærness, K. (2008). National context and spouses’ housework in 34 countries. European Sociological Review, 24(1), 97–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korpi, W. (2000). Faces of inequality: Gender, class, and patterns of inequalities in different types of welfare states. Social Politics, 7(2), 127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lachance-Grzela, M., & Bouchard, G. (2010). Why do women do the lion’s share of housework? A decade of research. Sex Roles, 63(11–12), 767–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, A. (2000). Social class and the daily lives of children. A study from the United States. Childhood., 7(2), 155–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, A. (2003). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavee, Y., & Katz, R. (2002). Division of labor, perceived fairness, and marital quality: The effect of gender ideology. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(1), 27–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, E., Spitze, G., & Logan, J. R. (2003). Social support to parents-in-law: The interplay of gender and kin hierarchies. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65(2), 396–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J., Campbell, M., & Huerta, C. (2008). Patterns of paid and unpaid work in Western Europe: Gender, commodification, preferences and the implications for policy. Journal of European Social Policy, 18(1), 21–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Lippe, T., Tijdens, K., & de Ruijter, E. (2004). Outsourcing of domestic tasks and time-saving effects. Journal of Family Issues, 25(2), 216–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mancini, A. L., & Pasqua, S. (2009). Asymmetries and interdependencies in time use between Italian spouses. WP Child, 12, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manke, B., Seery, B. L., Crouter, A. C., & McHale, S. M. (1994). The three corners of domestic labor: Mothers’, fathers’, and children’s weekday and weekend housework. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56(3), 657–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marsiglio, W., Amato, P., Day, R. D., & Lamb, M. E. (2000). Scholarship on fatherhood in the 1990s and beyond. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 1173–1191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maume, D. J. (2011). Reconsidering the temporal increase in fathers’ time with children. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 32(3), 411–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nazio, T., & Blossfeld, H.-P. (2003). The diffusion of cohabitation among young women in West Germany, East Germany and Italy. European Journal of Population/Revue Europeenne de Demographie, 19(1), 47–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Platt, L., & Polavieja, J. (2016). Saying and doing gender: Intergenerational transmission of attitudes towards the sexual division of labour. European Sociological Review, 32(6), 820–834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poortman, A. R., & Van der Lippe, T. (2009). Attitudes toward housework and child care and the gendered division of labor. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(3), 526–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romano, M. C., Mencarini, L., & Tanturri, M. L. (2012). Uso del tempo e ruoli di genere Tra lavoro e famiglia nel ciclo di vita. Istituto Nazionale di Statistica.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Ruijter, E., Treas, J. K., & Cohen, P. N. (2005). Outsourcing the gender factory. Social Forces, 84(1), 305–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruppanner, L. (2012). Housework conflict and divorce: A multi-level analysis. Work, Employment and Society, 26(4), 638–656.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruppanner, L., Bernhardt, E., & Brandén, M. (2017). Division of housework and his and her view of housework fairness: A typology of Swedish couples. Demographic Research, 36, 501–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarkisian, N., & Gerstel, N. (2004). Explaining the gender gap in help to parents: The importance of employment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(2), 431–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayer, L. C., Bianchi, S. M., & Robinson, J. P. (2004a). Are parents investing less in children? Trends in mothers’ and fathers’ time with children. American Journal of Sociology, 110(1), 1–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayer, L. C., Gauthier, A. H., & Furstenberg, F. F. (2004b). Educational differences in parents’ time with children: Cross-national variations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(5), 1152–1169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scherer, S., & Reyneri, E. (2008). Come è cresciuta l’occupazione femminile in Italia: fattori strutturali e culturali a confronto. Stato e Mercato, 83(2), 183–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, D. (2011). Market earnings and household work: New tests of gender performance theory. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(4), 845–860.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schober, P. S. (2013). The parenthood effect on gender inequality: Explaining the change in paid and domestic work when British couples become parents. European Sociological Review, 29(1), 74–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • South, S. J., & Spitze, G. (1994). Housework in marital and nonmarital households. American Sociological Review, 59(3), 327–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, O. (2013). What do we learn about gender by analyzing housework separately from child care? Some considerations from time-use evidence. Journal of Family Theory and Review, 5(2), 72–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, O., Billari, F. C., & Altintas, E. (2014). Fathers’ changing contributions to child care and domestic work in very low-fertility countries the effect of education. Journal of Family Issues, 35(8), 1048–1065.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, O., & Gershuny, J. (2001). Cross-national changes in time-use: Some sociological (hi)stories re-examined. The British Journal of Sociology, 52(2), 331–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szinovacz, M. E., & Davey, A. (2008). The division of parent care between spouses. Ageing and Society, 28(04), 571–597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szinovacz, M. E., & Davey, A. (2013). Changes in adult children’s participation in parent care. Ageing and Society, 33(04), 667–697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treas, J., & Drobnič, S. (2010). Dividing the domestic: Men, women, and household work in cross-national perspective. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Treas, J., & Tai, T. (2012). Apron strings of working mothers: Maternal employment and housework in cross-national perspective. Social Science Research, 41(4), 833–842.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treas, J., & Tai, T. (2016). Gender inequality in housework across 20 European nations: Lessons from gender stratification theories. Sex Roles, 74(11–12), 495–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West, C., & Zimmerman, D. (1987). Doing gender. Gender and Society, 1(2), 125–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West, C., & Zimmerman, D. (2009). Accounting for doing gender. Gender and Society, 23(1), 112–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheelock, J., & Jones, K. (2002). “Grandparents are the next best thing”: Informal childcare for working parents in urban Britain. Journal of Social Policy, 31(03), 441–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, L. K., & Brinkerhoff, D. B. (1981). The sexual division of labor: Evidence from childhood. Social Forces, 60(1), 170–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wight, V. R., Price, J., Bianchi, S. M., & Hunt, B. R. (2009). The time use of teenagers. Social Science Research, 38(4), 792–809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshida, A. (2012). Dads who do diapers: Factors affecting care of young children by fathers. Journal of Family Issues, 33(4), 451–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European University Institute, San Domenico di Fiesole, Italy

    Giulia Maria Dotti Sani

Authors
  1. Giulia Maria Dotti Sani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giulia Maria Dotti Sani .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Dotti Sani, G.M. (2018). Theoretical Background. In: Time Use in Domestic Settings Throughout the Life Course. SpringerBriefs in Sociology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78720-6_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78720-6_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-78719-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-78720-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation