Children's household work: Its nature and functions.

Abstract

Children's household work presents a challenging research history, marked by promise and long standing and also by unfinished questions and studies more isolated from useful theoretical frameworks than they need be. Interest in the topic stems from the usefulness of children's work as a way of exploring a variety of issues: the development of prosocial or cooperative behavior, the fostering of responsibility, the nature of parental control or adult-guided learning, the acquisition of gender roles, and-more sociologically-the relation of children's household work to a family's socioeconomic status, a mother's paid work outside the home, and changes in concepts of childhood or child labor. Despite the extent of interest, questions still remain about why household work is expected at all, why it varies within and across families, how one form of work varies from another, and what positive or negative consequences flow from children's household work. Research on any of these issues and questions would benefit from an awareness of the range of data and conceptualizations available. With this benefit in mind, in this review I (a) draw together a literature scattered across several fields; (b) link past research to concepts used in some analyses of socialization, family functioning, and adults' household work; and (c) highlight issues that cut across studies and could be the focus of further research.For psychologists and sociologists, children's work around the house has long been a topic of considerable interest. The questions explored range from why work is done to who does it; how it is rewarded; how it affects later development; and how such conditions as family composition, socioeconomic status, or the prevailing concepts of children affect it. This article has three goals. The first is to pull together a literature that is scattered across several fields. The second is to provide research that is often descriptive with some useful theoretical frameworks, largely by linking studies of children's work to concepts used in general analyses of socialization, family relationships, and work (adults' household work in particular). The third is to point to a number of unfinished questions and research possibilities that could extend our understanding of children's work and feed back into our understanding of these general areas.The article opens with some topics that cut across the range of studies. These are the sources of interest in children's work, the features of activities given the label work, and some general aspects to the literature (e.g., the concern with both theoretical and social issues).The middle and largest part of the article is a review of base-My debts are several. Financial support came from the Australian Research Grants Committee and-during time at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford-from the Spencer Foundation. Two people in particular have expanded my knowledge: Joan Grusec in the area of prosocial behavior and Joan Hollinger in the area of legal studies of contrac...

Household Division of Labour: Generation, Gender, Age, Birth Order and Sibling Composition

“…However, in the Minority World, children's contribution has been considered to be more symbolic: for socialisation purposes rather than because of economic need (Thrall 1978;White and Brinkerhoff 1987;Zelizer 1985) although some authors disagree (Gill 1998;Goodnow 1988;Morrow 1996).…”

Raising Children, and Growing Up, across National BordersComparative Perspectives on Age, Gender, and Migration

“…One of Eva's brothers is a year younger, but he does far less housework; during our field visits it was always Eva who was attentive to the guests and to the needs of her younger siblings. Our interviews with parents and children in California provide further evidence, across ethnic groups, that girls, like women, do a disproportionate share of housework (Goodnow, 1988).…”

“…But in conversations about what actually took place during a particular day or week, girls sometimes talked about helping out at the store after Arabic school, and boys told about helping with the dishes at home. In the allocation and negotiation of labor, considerations of need, convenience, and ability (which is partly linked to age) may override gender (Goodnow, 1988).…”

Atividade doméstica e socialização: a visão de adolescentes de classes economicamente distintas

“…Segundo Baumrind (citado por Goodnown 22 ) nos "contratos" implícitos entre os membros familiares, os comportamentos de auxílio e obediência da criança seriam o contrapeso à sustentação promovida pelos pais. Goodnow 22 denomina essa atribuição de deveres e responsabilidades entre os familiares de "democracia doméstica", na qual cada um deve e tem que colaborar de alguma maneira para o benefício coletivo.…”