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Welfare-state regimes and gender division of housework time in three conurbations: New York, Paris, Tokyo

Arnaud Dupray (Department of Entries and Changes in Active Life, Centre for Research on Education, Training and Employment, Marseille, France) (Laboratory of Labour Economics and Industrial Sociology, Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France)
Anne-Marie Daune-Richard (Laboratory of Labour Economics and Industrial Sociology, Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France)
Hiroatsu Nohara (Yamanashigakuin University, Kofu, Japan) (Laboratory of Labour Economics and Industrial Sociology, Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France)

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy

ISSN: 0144-333X

Article publication date: 6 August 2018

Issue publication date: 20 September 2018

257

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the patterns and determinants of the division of household tasks within couples in countries under different welfare-state regimes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper investigates data on “urban middle- and upper-class” couples living in New York, Paris or Tokyo area, from a 2007 international comparative time-budget survey carried out at the initiative of the Rengo-Soken Research Institute. Each partner was interviewed separately, offering a unique statistical source for analysing the organisation of domestic time.

Findings

The results shed light on the degree of proximity among the three populations in their housework-sharing arrangements. Greater parity in partners’ housework time is found for the New York couples, regardless of their occupational activity. In Paris and especially in Tokyo, other demands on the partners’ time and the contribution each makes to the household income both impact the actual division of household labour.

Research limitations/implications

The partners’ gender ideology was not elicited, and inclusion of lower-class couples could change certain results. However, the findings attest to the strong role that welfare-state regime plays in shaping housework time allocation.

Originality/value

Unlike other international comparisons, the survey used enables us to ensure strong comparability of measures. The welfare-state regime and family model frameworks clearly highlight the interplay between individual determinants and the institutional context.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This paper stems from a research project (NewDynam Project) funded by the Agence nationale de la recherché (ANR) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) on the new dynamics of work and employment in France and Japan. The authors are grateful to Rengo-Soken for supplying data. The authors thank Hélène Couprie, Clare Lyonette, seminar participants in Madrid and Aix-en-Provence, the Editor and three anonymous referees for helpful comments on earlier versions.

Citation

Dupray, A., Daune-Richard, A.-M. and Nohara, H. (2018), "Welfare-state regimes and gender division of housework time in three conurbations: New York, Paris, Tokyo", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 38 No. 11/12, pp. 956-972. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-03-2018-0041

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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