The division of domestic labor between Singaporean employed husbands and wives.

Abstract

Much sociological research concentrates on the difficulties employed women face in managing the incessant demands resulting from juggling multiple roles of a wife, mother, and an employee. However, few studies focus on examining how these women feel both positively and negatively about the division of household and childcare labor, as compared to their employed husbands and the factors which influence their feelings towards it. This paper uses a sample of five pairs of highly-educated and young married couples with children aged six and below to study the division of family work between employed husbands and their employed wives, how they feel about that division, and the factors that affect their feelings towards it. Surprisingly, my findings suggest that employed husbands and their employed wives report similar levels of personal happiness and satisfaction with the division of family work even though wives do a greater share of domestic work.