Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Gender and Time Use in a Global Context pp 283–303Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Division of Workforce and Domestic Labor Among Same-Sex Couples

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

This chapter provides a thorough review of the literature on same-sex couples’ division of employment, housework, and childcare, focusing specifically on income and gender roles. It also presents some methodological challenges and opportunities in using same-sex couples as a model for division of labor in the home and in the workforce.

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover 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

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Antecol, Heather, and Michael D. Steinberger (2013). Labor supply differences between married heterosexual women and partnered lesbians: A semi parametric decomposition approach. Economic Inquiry, 51(1), 783–805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belkin, Lisa (2008). When mom and dad share it all. New York Times Magazine, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/magazine/15parenting-t.html?_r=0

  • Bem, Sandra L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black, Dan, Gary Gates, Seth Sanders, and Lowell Taylor (2000). Demographics of the gay and lesbian population in the United States: Evidence from available systematic data sources. Demography, 37(2), 139–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black, Dan, Seth Sanders, and Lowell Taylor (2007). The economics of lesbian and gay families. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(2), 53–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blumstein, Phillip, and Pepper Schwartz (1983). American Couples: Money, Work, Sex. New York: William Morrow.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bos, Henny M.W., Frank Van Balen, and Dymphna C. Van Den Boom (2007). Child adjustment and parenting in planned lesbian-parent families. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77, 38–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrington, Christopher (1999). No Place Like Home: Relationships and Family Life Among Lesbians and Gay Men. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, Raymond W., Risa C. Brooks, Barbara Raboy, and Charlotte J. Patterson (1998). Division of labor among lesbian and heterosexual parents: Associations with children’s adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 402–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Civettini, Nicole (2016). Housework as non-normative gender display among lesbians and gay men. Sex Roles, 74, 206–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, Carolyn P., and Philip A. Cowan (1990). Who does what? In Barry F. Perlmutter John Touliatos and Murray Arnold Straus (Eds.), Handbook of Family Measurement Techniques (pp. 447–448). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunne, Gillian A. (1997). Lesbian Lifestyles: Women’s Work and the Politics of Sexuality. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dunne, Gillian A. (1998). Living “Difference”: Lesbian Perspectives on Work and Family Life. New York: Harrington Park Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fulcher, Megan, Erin L. Sutfin, and Charlotte J. Patterson (2008). Individual differences in gender development: Associations with parental sexual orientation, attitudes, and division of labor. Sex Roles, 58, 330–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gartrell, Nanette, Amy Banks, Jean Hamilton, Nancy Reed, Holly Bishop, and Carla Rodas (1999). The national lesbian family study: 2. Interviews with mothers of toddlers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 69, 362–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gartrell, Nanette, Carla Rodas, Amalia Deck, Heidi Peyser, and Amy Banks (2006). The USA national lesbian family study: Interviews with mothers of 10-year olds. Feminism & Psychology, 16, 175–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddings, Lisa, John M. Nunley, Alyssa Schneebaum, and Joachim Zietz (2014). Birth cohort and the specialization gap between same-sex and different-sex couples. Demography, 51(2), 509–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, Abbie E., JuliAnna Z. Smith, and Maureen Perry-Jenkins (2012). The division of labor in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual new adoptive parents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74, 812–828.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, Robert J., and Valory Mitchell (2002). Gay and lesbian couples in therapy: Homophobia, relational ambiguity, and social support. In Alan S. Gurman and Neil S. Jacobson (Eds.), Clinical Handbook of Couple Therapy (pp. 546–568). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, Robert J., Michael Bettinger, and Elli Zacks (1996). Are lesbian couples fused and gay male couples disengaged? Questioning gender straightjackets. In Joan Laird and Robert Jay Green (Eds.), Lesbians and Gays in Couples and Families: A Handbook for Therapists (pp. 185–230). New York: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jepsen, Lisa K. (2007). Comparing the earnings of cohabiting lesbians, cohabiting heterosexual women, and married women: Evidence from the 2000 Census. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 46(4), 699–727.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jepsen, Christopher, and Lisa K. Jepsen (2015). Labor market specialization within same sex and difference sex couples. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 54(1), 109–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamano, Saori (2009). Housework and lesbian couples in Japan: Division, negotiation and interpretation. Women’s Studies International Forum, 32, 130–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, Maura, and Elizabeth Hauck (2015). Doing housework, redoing gender: Queer couples negotiate the household division of labor. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 11(438–464). DOI: 10.1080/1550428X.2015.1006750.

  • Khor, Diana (2007). “Doing gender”: A critical review and an exploration of lesbigay domestic arrangements. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 3, 35–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurdek, Lawrence A. (1993). The allocation of household labor in gay. lesbian, and heterosexual married couples. Journal of Social Issues, 49(3), 127–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurdek, Lawrence A. (2007). The allocation of household labor by partners in gay and lesbian couples. Journal of Family Issues, 28, 132–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leppel, Karen (2009). Labour force status and sexual orientation. Economica, 76(301), 197–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, Mignon R. (2008). Gendered power relations among women: A study of household decision making in Black, lesbian families. American Sociological Review, 73, 335–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oerton, Sarah (1998). Reclaiming the “housewife”? Lesbians and household work. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 2(4), 69–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oreffice, Sonia (2011). Sexual orientation and household decision making: Same-sex couples’ balance of power and labor supply choices. Labour Economics, 18(2), 145–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panozzo, Dwight (2015). Child care responsibility in gay male-parented families: Predictive and correlative factors. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 11, 248–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, Charlotte J. (1995). Families of the lesbian baby boom: Parents’ division of labor and children’s adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 31, 115–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, Charlotte J., Erin L. Sutfin, and Megan Fulcher (2004). Division of labor among lesbian and heterosexual parenting couples: Correlates of specialized versus shared patterns. Journal of Adult Development, 11, 179–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfeffer, Carla A. (2010). “Women’s work”? Women partners of transgender men doing housework and emotion work. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 165–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prickett, Kate C., Alexa Martin-Storey, and Robert Crosnoe (2015). A research note on time with children in different-and same-sex two-parent families. Demography, 52(3), 905–918.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rawsthorne, Margot, and Mayet Costello (2010). Cleaning the sink: Exploring the experiences of Australian lesbian parents reconciling work/family responsibilities. Community, Work & Family, 13, 189–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothblum, Esther D. (2008). An overview of same-sex couples in relationships: A research area still at sea. In Debra A. Hope (Ed.), Contemporary Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Identities (pp. 113–140), Volume 54 of the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothblum, Esther D. (2010). The complexity of butch and femme among sexual minority women in the 21st Century. Psychology of Sexualities Review, 1(1), 29–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothblum, Esther D., and Rhonda J. Factor (2001). Lesbians and their sisters as a control group: Demographic and mental health factors. Psychological Science, 12(1), 63–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothblum, Esther D., Kimberly F. Balsam, and Ruth M. Mickey (2004). Brothers and sisters of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals as a demographic comparison group: An innovative research methodology to examine social change. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 40, 283–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothblum, Esther D., Kimberly F. Balsam, Sondra E. Solomon, and Rhonda J. Factor (2005). Siblings and sexual orientation. Products of alternative families or the ones who got away? Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 1, 71–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothblum, Esther D., Kimberly F. Balsam, Sondra E. Solomon, and Rhonda Factor (2007). Lesbian, gay male, bisexual, and heterosexual siblings: Discrepancies in income and education in three U.S. samples. In Lee Badgett and Jeff Frank (Eds.), Sexual Orientation Discrimination: An International Perspective (pp. 62–75). NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, Sondra E., Esther D. Rothblum, and Kimberly F. Balsam (2004). Pioneers in partnership: Lesbian and gay male couples in civil unions compared with those not in civil unions, and heterosexual married siblings. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(2), 275–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, Sondra E., Esther D. Rothblum, and Kimberly F. Balsam (2005). Money, housework, sex, and conflict: Same-sex couples in civil unions, those not in civil unions, and heterosexual married siblings. Sex Roles, 52, 561–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tebaldi, Edinaldo, and Bruce Elmslie (2006). Sexual orientation and labour supply. Applied Economics, 38(5), 549–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tornello, Samantha L., Stacy M. Kruczkowski, and Charlotte J. Patterson (2015). Division of labor and relationship quality among male same-sex couples who became fathers via surrogacy. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 11, 375–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, Jane (2010). Gender labor: Transmen, femmes, and collective work of transgression. Sexualities, 13, 236–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Women’s Studies, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Esther D. Rothblum

Authors
  1. Esther D. Rothblum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Esther D. Rothblum .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Bowdoin College Dept of Economics, Brunswick, Maine, USA

    Rachel Connelly

  2. Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA

    Ebru Kongar

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Rothblum, E.D. (2017). Division of Workforce and Domestic Labor Among Same-Sex Couples. In: Connelly, R., Kongar, E. (eds) Gender and Time Use in a Global Context. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56837-3_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56837-3_12

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56836-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56837-3

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation