Domestic Outsourcing, Housework Shares and Subjective Time Pressure: Gender Differences in the Correlates of Hiring Help

Abstract

We use data from matched dual earner couples from the Australian Time Use Survey 2006 (n = 926 couples) to investigate predictors of different forms of domestic outsourcing, and whether using each type of paid help is associated with reduced time in male or female-typed tasks, narrower gender gaps in housework time and/or lower subjective time pressure. Results suggest domestic outsourcing does not substitute for much household time, reduces domestic time for men at least as much as for women, and does not ameliorate gender gaps in domestic labor. The only form of paid help associated with significant change in gender shares of domestic work was gardening and maintenance services, which were associated with women doing a greater share of the household total domestic work. We found no evidence that domestic outsourcing reduced feelings of time pressure. We conclude that domestic outsourcing is not effective in ameliorating time pressures or in changing gender dynamics of unpaid work.Keywords Gender division of labor Á Domestic outsourcing Á Housework shares Á Time pressure As women have entered the workforce in greater numbers, it has become harder for families to find time for domestic labor. In dual-earner households, tasks that used to be performed by housewives must now be fitted around the work schedules of both partners. Scholars have noted that time in housework has gone down, largely as a result of women doing less than in times past (Sayer 2005;Bianchi et al. 2000). Notwithstanding, women

Domestic Outsourcing, Housework Time, and Subjective Time Pressure: New Insights From Longitudinal Data

“…Over the three waves of data, couples outsourced housework in 12.3% of the observations. This proportion is consistent with previous reports for Australia based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Time Use Survey 2006 (Craig & Baxter, 2014).…”

“…In multivariate analyses, we controlled for a number of theoretically relevant factors that might confound the relationships between domestic outsourcing, housework supply, and feelings of time pressure. Following Craig and Baxter (), these included respondents' earning decile (using weekly gross wages and salary from all jobs adjusted to 2014 prices), whether the respondent worked in a (low‐ or high‐graded) professional occupation (defined as falling within Category 2, “Professionals,” of the one‐digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations 2006; see http://www.abs.gov.au/ANZSCO), and his or her usual hours of work per week (from all jobs). Income and professional occupation measured resources contributed to the household, with previous research showing that greater resources are associated with reduced housework time (Gupta & Ash, ).…”

“…In fact, reverse causation can be considered a form of omitted‐variable bias in which those factors mediating the effect of Y on X are unobserved. As noted above, previous research using cross‐sectional data and methods that found domestic outsourcing to be neutral or associated with increased feelings of stress (Craig & Baxter, ) might simply reflect a tendency for couples who feel more rushed or pressed for time to outsource housework. Similar arguments could be made concerning housework supply: Couples who do more housework (e.g., because of their preferences for cleanliness) may also be more likely to outsource housework, ceteris paribus.…”

“…In Australia, owner-occupied dwellings are more likely to be houses than apartments, and so they are, on average, larger and have grounds to maintain and thus are associated with higher demand for domestic labor (Baxter & Hewitt, 2013). Greater effort expended on the upkeep, care, and appearance of a dwelling and its yard if it is owner occupied, compared to rented, may differ by gender because in Australia men are more likely to be responsible for outdoor work and women for indoor work (Craig & Baxter, 2014). Children require care and create more demand for housework (Craig & Bittman, 2008).…”

The Sociology of Housework

“…Since Oakley's early attempt to deconstruct housework, a plethora of research has pointed to the complex dynamics involved in the micropolitics of family life as it plays out in household division of labor. These include, for example, the role of domestic outsourcing (Craig & Baxter, ; Gonalons‐Pons, ), religious beliefs and practices (Voicu, Voicu, & Strapcova, ); individuals' perceptions of fairness concerning division of housework (Perales, Baxter, & Tai, ), and the intersecting force of class (Gonalons‐Pons, ). So, too, has the importance of comparative research been noted in uncovering cross‐national variation by assessing the effects of various macro‐level factors such as institutional policies and welfare regimes (Anxo et al, ; Arnstein, Fuochi, & Mencarini, ; Hook, ).…”