![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Household labor is commonly defined as a set of physical tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and shopping. Sociologists sometimes reference non-physical activities related to “household management,” but these are typically mentioned in passing, imprecisely defined, or treated as equivalent to physical tasks. Using 70 in-depth interviews with members of 35 couples, this study argues that such tasks are better understood as examples of a unique dimension of housework: cognitive labor. The data demonstrate that cognitive labor entails anticipating needs, identifying options for filling them, making decisions, and monitoring progress. Because such work is taxing but often invisible to both cognitive laborers and their partners, it is a frequent source of conflict for couples. Cognitive labor is also a gendered phenomenon: women in this study do more cognitive labor overall and more of the anticipation and monitoring work in particular. However, male and female participation in decision-making, arguably the cognitive labor component most closely linked to power and influence, is roughly equal. These findings identify and define an overlooked—yet potentially consequential—source of gender inequality at the household level and suggest a new direction for research on the division of household labor.
References
|
Achen, Alexandra C., Stafford, Frank P. 2005. “Data Quality of Housework Hours in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Who Really Does the Dishes?” PSID Technical Series Paper #05-04. Google Scholar | |
|
Ahn, Janet N., Haines, Elizabeth L., Mason, Malia F. 2017. “Gender Stereotypes and the Coordination of Mnemonic Work within Heterosexual Couples: Romantic Partners Manage Their Daily To-Dos.” Sex Roles 77(7–8):1–18. Google Scholar | |
|
Allen, Sarah M., Hawkins, Alan J. 1999. “Maternal Gatekeeping: Mothers’ Beliefs and Behaviors That Inhibit Greater Father Involvement in Family Work.” Journal of Marriage and Family 61(1):199–212. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Arendell, Terry . 2001. “The New Care Work of Middle-Class Mothers: Managing Childrearing, Employment, and Time.” Pp. 163–204 in Minding the Time in Family Experience, Vol. 3, Emerging Perspectives and Issues, edited by Daly, K. J. New York: JAI. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Bass, Brooke C. 2015. “Preparing for Parenthood? Gender, Aspirations, and the Reproduction of Labor Market Inequality.” Gender and Society 29(3):362–85. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Berk, Sarah Fenstermaker . 1985. The Gender Factory: The Apportionment of Work in American Households. New York: Plenum Press Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Bianchi, Suzanne M., Milkie, Melissa A., Sayer, Liana C., Robinson, John P. 2000. “Is Anyone Doing the Housework? Trends in the Gender Division of Household Labor.” Social Forces 79(1):191–228. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Bianchi, Suzanne M., Robinson, John P., Milkie, Melissa A. 2006. Changing Rhythms of American Family Life. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Google Scholar | |
|
Bianchi, Suzanne M., Sayer, Liana C., Milkie, Melissa A., Robinson, John P. 2012. “Housework: Who Did, Does or Will Do It, and How Much Does It Matter?” Social Forces 91(1):55–63. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Bittman, Michael, Wajcman, Judy. 2000. “The Rush Hour: The Character of Leisure Time and Gender Equity.” Social Forces 79(1):165–89. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Blair-Loy, Mary . 2003. Competing Devotions: Career and Family among Women Executives. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Bolzendahl, Catherine I., Myers, Daniel J. 2004. “Feminist Attitudes and Support for Gender Equality: Opinion Change in Women and Men, 1974–1998.” Social Forces 83(2):759–90. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Chesley, Noelle, Flood, Sarah. 2017. “Signs of Change? At-Home and Breadwinner Parents’ Housework and Child-Care Time.” Journal of Marriage and Family 79(2):511–34. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Coltrane, Scott . 1996. Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equality. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Coltrane, Scott . 2000. “Research on Household Labor: Modeling and Measuring the Social Embeddedness of Routine Family Work.” Journal of Marriage and Family 62(4):1208–33. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Craig, Lyn . 2006. “Does Father Care Mean Fathers Share? A Comparison of How Mothers and Fathers in Intact Families Spend Time with Children.” Gender and Society 20(2):259–81. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Craig, Lyn, Brown, Judith E. 2016. “Feeling Rushed: Gendered Time Quality, Work Hours, Nonstandard Work Schedules, and Spousal Crossover.” Journal of Marriage and Family 79(1):225–42. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Daly, Kerry J. 2001. “Controlling Time in Families: Patterns That Sustain Gendered Work in the Home.” Pp. 227–49 in Minding the Time in Family Experience, Vol. 3, Emerging Perspectives and Issues, edited by Daly, K. J. New York: JAI. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Daniels, Arlene Kaplan . 1987. “Invisible Work.” Social Problems 34(5):403–15. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Darrah, Charles N., Freeman, James M., English-Lueck, J. A. 2007. Busier Than Ever! Why American Families Can’t Slow Down. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Davis, Shannon N., Greenstein, Theodore N. 2004. “Cross-National Variations in the Division of Household Labor.” Journal of Marriage and Family 66(5):1260–71. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Deutsch, Francine M. 1999. Halving It All: How Equally Shared Parenting Works. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Deutsch, Francine M., Saxon, Susan E. 1998. “Traditional Ideologies, Nontraditional Lives.” Sex Roles 38(5/6):331–62. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
DeVault, Marjorie L. 1991. Feeding the Family: The Social Organization of Caring as Gendered Work. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar | |
|
DeVault, Marjorie L. 1999. “Comfort and Struggle: Emotion Work in Family Life.” ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 561(1):52–63. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Doan, Long, Quadlin, Natasha. 2018. “Partner Characteristics and Perceptions of Responsibility for Housework and Child Care.” Journal of Marriage and Family 81(1):145–63. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Dworkin, Jodi, Connell, Jessica, Doty, Jennifer. 2013. “A Literature Review of Parents’ Online Behavior.” Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace 7(2), article 2 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CP2013-2-2). Google Scholar | |
|
Emens, Elizabeth . 2019. Life Admin: How I Learned to Do Less, Do Better, and Live More. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Google Scholar | |
|
Emma . 2017. “You Should’ve Asked.” Retrieved May 8, 2018 (https://english.emmaclit.com/2017/05/20/you-shouldve-asked/). Google Scholar | |
|
Fuwa, Makiko . 2004. “Macro-Level Gender Inequality and the Division of Household Labor in 22 Countries.” American Sociological Review 69(6):751–67. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Goldberg, Abbie E., Smith, JuliAnna Z., Perry-Jenkins, Maureen. 2012. “The Division of Labor in Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual New Adoptive Parents.” Journal of Marriage and Family 74(4):812–28. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Gregson, Nicky, Lowe, Michelle. 1994. “Waged Domestic Labour and the Renegotiation of the Domestic Division of Labour within Dual Career Households.” Sociology 28(1):55–78. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Hall, Scott S., MacDermid, Shelley M. 2009. “A Typology of Dual Earner Marriages Based on Work and Family Arrangements.” Journal of Family and Economic Issues 30(3):215–25. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Hays, Sharon . 1996. The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Hertz, Rosanna . 1986. More Equal Than Others: Women and Men in Dual-Career Marriages. Berkeley: University of California Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Hessing, Melody . 1994. “More Than Clockwork: Women’s Time Management in Their Combined Workloads.” Sociological Perspectives 37(4):611–33. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Hochschild, Arlie Russell . 1979. “Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology 85(3):551–75. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Hochschild, Arlie Russell 1989. The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home. New York: Penguin. Google Scholar | |
|
Kamo, Yoshinori . 2000. “‘He Said, She Said’: Assessing Discrepancies in Husbands’ and Wives’ Reports on the Division of Household Labor.” Social Science Research 29(4):459–76. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Kamo, Yoshinori, Cohen, Ellen L. 1998. “Division of Household Work between Partners: A Comparison of Black and White Couples.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 29(1):131–45. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Komter, Aafke . 1989. “Hidden Power in Marriage.” Gender and Society 3(2):187–216. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Lachance-Grzela, Mylène, Bouchard, Geneviève. 2010. “Why Do Women Do the Lion’s Share of Housework? A Decade of Research.” Sex Roles 63(11–12):767–80. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Lam, Chun Bun, McHale, Susan M., Crouter, Ann C. 2012. “The Division of Household Labor: Longitudinal Changes and Within-Couple Variation.” Journal of Marriage and Family 74(5):944–52 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Lareau, Annette . 2003. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life. Berkeley: University of California Press. Google Scholar | |
|
LaRossa, Ralph . 1988. “Fatherhood and Social Change.” Family Relations 37(4):451–57. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Lee, Yun-Suk, Waite, Linda J. 2005. “Husbands’ and Wives’ Time Spent on Housework: A Comparison of Measures.” Journal of Marriage and Family 67(2):328–36. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Mani, Anandi, Mullainathan, Sendhil, Shafir, Eldar, Zhao, Jiaying. 2013. “Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function.” Science 341(6149):976–80. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Mattingly, Marybeth J., Sayer, Liana C. 2006. “Under Pressure: Gender Differences in the Relationship between Free Time and Feeling Rushed.” Journal of Marriage and Family 68(1):205–21. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
McLean, Carmen P., Asnaani, Anu, Litz, Brett T., Hofmann, Stefan G. 2011. “Gender Differences in Anxiety Disorders: Prevalence, Course of Illness, Comorbidity and Burden of Illness.” Journal of Psychiatric Research 45(8):1027–35. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Mederer, Helen J. 1993. “Division of Labor in Two-Earner Homes: Task Accomplishment versus Household Management as Critical Variables in Perceptions about Family Work.” Journal of Marriage and Family 55(1):133–45. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Miller, Amanda J., Carlson, Daniel L. 2016. “Great Expectations? Working- and Middle-Class Cohabitors’ Expected and Actual Divisions of Housework.” Journal of Marriage and Family 78(2):346–63. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Moore, Mignon R. 2008. “Gendered Power Relations among Women: A Study of Household Decision Making in Black, Lesbian Stepfamilies.” American Sociological Review 73(2):335–56. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Mullainathan, Sendhil, Shafir, Eldar. 2013. Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much. New York: Times Books. Google Scholar | |
|
Offer, Shira, Schneider, Barbara. 2011. “Revisiting the Gender Gap in Time-Use Patterns: Multitasking and Well-Being among Mothers and Fathers in Dual-Earner Families.” American Sociological Review 76(6):809–33. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Owens, Jennifer . 2018. “Women Are Overburdened with Their Families’ ‘Mental Loads.’” Slate, March 2. Retrieved November 24, 2018 (https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/03/women-are-overburdened-with-their-families-mental-loads.html). Google Scholar | |
|
Papanek, Hanna . 1979. “Family Status Production: The ‘Work’ and ‘Non-work’ of Women.” Signs 4(4):775–81. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Pedulla, David S., Thébaud, Sarah. 2015. “Can We Finish the Revolution? Gender, Work-Family Ideals, and Institutional Constraint.” American Sociological Review 80(1):116–39. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Radey, Melissa, Randolph, Karen A. 2009. “Parenting Sources: How Do Parents Differ in Their Efforts to Learn about Parenting?” Family Relations 58(5):536–48. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Robinson, John P., Godbey, Geoffrey. 1997. Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Sayer, Liana C. 2005. “Gender, Time and Inequality: Trends in Women’s and Men’s Paid Work, Unpaid Work and Free Time.” Social Forces 84(1):285–303. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Silverman, Rosa . 2018. “Are You Struggling with the ‘Mental Load’? Here Are 8 Ways to Tell.” The Telegraph, March 21. Retrieved November 24, 2018 (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/family/struggling-mental-load-8-ways-tell/). Google Scholar | |
|
Small, Mario Luis . 2017. Someone to Talk To. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Stone, Pamela . 2007. Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home. Berkeley: University of California Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Sullivan, Oriel . 1997. “Time Waits for No (Wo)Man: An Investigation of the Gendered Experience of Domestic Time.” Sociology 31(2):221–39. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Sullivan, Oriel . 2010. “Changing Differences by Educational Attainment in Fathers’ Domestic Labour and Child Care.” Sociology 44(4):716–33. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Sullivan, Oriel . 2013. “What Do We Learn about Gender by Analyzing Housework Separately from Child Care? Some Considerations from Time-Use Evidence.” Journal of Family Theory & Review 5(2):72–84. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Sullivan, Oriel, Gershuny, Jonathan. 2013. “Domestic Outsourcing and Multitasking: How Much Do They Really Contribute?” Social Science Research 42(5):1311–24. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Tai, Tsui-o, Treas, Judith. 2013. “Housework Task Hierarchies in 32 Countries.” European Sociological Review 29(4):780–91. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Tichenor, Veronica Jaris . 2005. Earning More and Getting Less: Why Successful Wives Can’t Buy Equality. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Twiggs, Joan E., McQuillan, Julia, Ferree, Myra M. 1999. “Meaning and Measurement: Reconceptualizing Measures of the Division of Household Labor.” Journal of Marriage and Family 61(3):712–24. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Usdansky, Margaret L. 2011. “The Gender-Equality Paradox: Class and Incongruity between Work-Family Attitudes and Behaviors.” Journal of Family Theory & Review 3(3):163–78. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Vohs, Kathleen D., Baumeister, Roy F., Schmeichel, Brandon J., Twenge, Jean M., Nelson, Noelle M., Tice, Dianne M. 2008. “Making Choices Impairs Subsequent Self-Control: A Limited-Resource Account of Decision Making, Self-Regulation, and Active Initiative.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 94(5):883–98. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Walzer, Susan . 1998. Thinking about the Baby: Gender and Transitions into Parenthood. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Wang, Jing, Novemsky, Nathan, Dhar, Ravi, Baumeister, Roy F. 2010. “Trade-Offs and Depletion in Choice.” Journal of Marketing Research 47(5):910–19. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Wetherell, Mark A., Carter, Kirsty. 2014. “The Multitasking Framework: The Effects of Increasing Workload on Acute Psychobiological Stress Reactivity.” Stress and Health 30(2):103–09. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Wong, Jaclyn S. 2017. “Competing Desires: How Young Adult Couples Negotiate Moving for Career Opportunities.” Gender and Society 31(2):171–96. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals |
