Husbands' Participation in Housework and Child Care in India

Abstract

The authors tested theories of housework among tea plantation workers in India, where women comprise the main part of the workforce and are breadwinners in their families. Analysis of 49 semistructured interviews and survey data from 3,181 female workers revealed that although women were mainly responsible for domestic labor, more than half of husbands usually or sometimes helped their wives with cooking, fuel wood collection, and child care. The analyses revealed a curvilinear relationship between husbands’ earnings share and their participation in each task, supporting theories of bargaining and gender display. The probability of male participation decreased to its lowest level when men earned less than their wives. Husbands rarely helped with clothes washing—considered the most feminine task—and their participation did not respond to changes in relative earnings. These results support the authors’ argument that patterns of bargaining and gender display will vary depending on the gendered nature of housework tasks within a particular society.

In the Hands of Women: Conditional Cash Transfers and Household Dynamics

“…For example, in India (Weitzman, 2014), Bangladesh (Naved & Persson, 2005), Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic (Kishor & Johnson, 2004) women's higher share of earnings are associated with higher physical and/or sexual violence from their spouses. Similar findings have been found for housework participation in India (Luke, Xu, & Thampi, 2003). In light of this evidence, I hypothesize that wives suddenly receiving a non‐negligible amount of money, via a welfare payment, could lead to “gender backlash” responses due to the transgression of traditional gender expectations.…”

‘New’ Men and ‘New’ Women: Cultural Identity Work of Husbands and Wives Related to Housework and Childcare

“…Spouses from lower socio-economic groups were accustomed to equal gender roles in the home and did not adhere rigidly to traditional customs. In contrast, Luke et al (2014) found in their study that husbands from lower socio-economic groups engaged to a lesser extent in domestic chores and childcare.…”

“…The difference in the time that men and women spend on unpaid work, such as household chores, cooking and childcare, has narrowed tremendously due to egalitarian gender views and an increase in women's marital power (Luke et al, 2014;Sullivan, 2011;Zimmerman, 2003). Husbands' greater involvement in housework could be attributed to wives having less time for these activities (Bianchi, Robinson, & Milkie, 2006).…”

“…As a result, they start engaging in identity work, a concept that is defined by Sveningsson andAlvesson (2003, p. 1165) as the way "individuals form, repair, maintain, strengthen or revise constructions that are productive of a sense of coherence and distinctiveness". has focused on Western perspectives (Cooke, 2007), whereas only some studies have focused on an Eastern perspective (Luke, Xu, & Thampi, 2014;Narayan, & Bhardwaj, 2005). Luke et al (2014), who conducted a study on Indian women breadwinners working on tea plantations, found that when husbands earned less than wives, men participated to a lesser extent in domestic chores.…”

“…has focused on Western perspectives (Cooke, 2007), whereas only some studies have focused on an Eastern perspective (Luke, Xu, & Thampi, 2014;Narayan, & Bhardwaj, 2005). Luke et al (2014), who conducted a study on Indian women breadwinners working on tea plantations, found that when husbands earned less than wives, men participated to a lesser extent in domestic chores. The study of Narayan and Bhardwaj (2005), which was about dual-career couples in India, indicated that husbands did not get involved in household chores.…”