22/08/2013

1

The continuing gender revolution in unpaid work

John Robinson, Jonathan Gershuny,

Oriel Sullivan, Kimberly Fisher

“Why Gender Equality Stalled” (Stephanie Coontz, Feburary 16th 2013)

• “The End of the Gender Revolution? Gender Role Attitudes from 1977 to

2008”. David Cotter, Joan M. Hermsen, and Reeve Vanneman

American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 117, No. 1 (2011), pp. 259-289

• “The Gender Revolution : Uneven and Stalled”.

Paula England Gender & Society (2010), pp. 24-149

• “A stalled revolution? Gender role attitudes in Australia 1986–

2005”. Marcel van Egmond, Janeen Baxter, Sandra Buchler and

Mark Western

Journal of Population Research 27 (2010), pp. 147–168

22/08/2013

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The ‘stalled’ revolution

• While women made wide gains in the public

sphere of employment over the past half

century, on many fronts the progress made in

gender equality appeared to slow in the late

1990s and 2000s……..

(Cotter, Hermsen & Vanneman, 2009)

Employment

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(England, 2010)

Education

(Cotter, Hermsen & Vanneman, 2011)

Attitudes

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• One explanation offered (e.g. Cotter, Hermsen

& Vanneman) is that this ‘stalling’ reflects a

new “egalitarian essentialism”, that “blends

aspects of feminist equality and traditional

motherhood roles”................

• Another, more convincing, explanation is that

neither the institutional context nor men

themselves appear to have adapted

sufficiently to women’s new engagement in

the labor force. While women’s lives have

become more like men’s, the reverse has not

been the case.

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• Only through an equal movement by men into

what has been traditionally considered

‘women’s work’, and a corresponding

institutional support of this move, can the

movement towards gender equality continue.

Melinda Beck

22/08/2013

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Data

• The MTUS Harmonised Simple File (HSF).

• This file covers a more limited range of

person-level, household level and diary

variables, and includes summary time in 25

time use categories.

Country Episode, Aggregate and Simple FilesSimple File Only

Simple File - Awaiting Upgrade

Australia 1974, 2006 1987, 1992, 1997

Austria 1992

Belgium 1966

Bulgaria 1988

Canada 1971-1972, 1981, 1986, 1992,1998

Denmark 2001 1964, 1987

Finland 1979 1987-1988, 1999-2000

France 1998-1999 1966, 1974-1975

Germany 1991-1992 1965-1966, 2001-2002

Hungary 1965, 1976-1977

Israel 1991-1992

Italy 1989 1979-1980, 2002-2003

Korea, Republic of

2009

Netherlands1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000,2005

Norway1971-1972, 1980-1981, 1990-1991, 2000-2001

Slovenia 1965, 2000-2001

South Africa 2000

Spain1992-1993, 1997-1998, 2002-2003, 2002-2003, 2008,2009-2010

Sweden 1990-1991, 2000-2001

United Kingdom1974-1975, 1983-1984, 1987, 1995, 2000-2001, 2005

1961

United States1965-1966, 1975-1976, 1985, 1992-1994, 1994-1995,1998-2001, 2003-2012

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61

66

71

76

81

86

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

australia

canada

UK

USA

Women's percentage share of all unpaid work

(MTUS: respondents aged 20-64 from Anglophone countries)

Institutional context matters....

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Women’s proportion of all unpaid work (men and women aged 20-59)

a. Nordic w omen's proportions of all unpaid work

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-69 1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Sweden

modelednordic

ew

Women’s proportion of all unpaid work (men and women aged 20-59)

a. Nordic w omen's proportions of all unpaid work

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-69 1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Sweden

modelednordic

ew

b. Liberal women's proportions of all unpaid work

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-

69

1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

Canada

UK

USA

Australia

modeledliberal

e

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Women’s proportion of all unpaid work (men and women aged 20-59)

a. Nordic women's proportions of all unpaid work

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-69 1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Sweden

modelednordic

ew

b. Liberal women's proportions of all unpaid work

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-

69

1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

Canada

UK

USA

Australia

modeledliberal

e

c. Corporatist women's prop. of all unpaid work

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-

69

1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

France

Netherlands

Germany

Austria

Slovenia

modeledcorporatist

Women’s proportion of all unpaid work (men and women aged 20-59)

a. Nordic women's proportions of all unpaid work

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-69 1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Sweden

modelednordic

ew

b. Liberal women's proportions of all unpaid work

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-

69

1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

Canada

UK

USA

Australia

modeledliberal

e

c. Corporatist w omen's prop. of all unpaid work

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-

69

1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

France

Netherlands

Germany

Austria

Slovenia

modeledcorporatist

d. Southern w omen's prop. of all unpaid w ork

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

1961-

69

1970-

74

1975-

84

1985-

89

1990-

94

1995-

99

2000-

04

%

Italy

Spain

modeledsouthern

(Kan, Sullivan & Gershuny, 2010)

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• So trends are in the right direction, and we

also know that there is a widely-held norm of

‘fairness’ within couples in the distribution of

total work………..

• Why then is the remaining inequality in

unpaid work so important?

• When a child is born, social norms and post-

childbirth biology mean that it is generally the

woman who takes time out, or goes part-time

• � the wage gap bind

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2 institutional solutions

• One (almost inconceivable in the present US

political climate, but widely practiced

elsewhere) is to raise taxes so as to

substantially subsidize childcare provision.

• The other is statutory reduction of working

hours for both partners in combination with

genuine flexibility to the point that their paid

work can be staggered, enabling a shorter

duration of paid childcare.

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• A combination of both of these lines of action

helps explain why the Nordic countries

perform better than the Anglophone at

sharing unpaid work.

Long-term trends in unpaid work in the

direction of greater gender equality (i.e.

convergence)

Not a call for complacency!

- A historical process, rather than a

revolution......

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a. Nordic w omen's proportion of care

0.60

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

1961-69

1970-74

1975-84

1985-89

1990-4

1995-99

2000-

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Sweden

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b. Liberal w omen's proportion of care

0.60

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

1961-69

1970-74

1975-84

1985-89

1990-4

1995-99

2000-

Canada

UK

USA

Australia

c. Corporatist w omen's proportion of care

0.60

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

1961-69

1970-74

1975-84

1985-89

1990-4

1995-99

2000-

France

Netherlands

Germany

Austria

Slovenia

d. Southern w omen's proportion of care

0.60

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

1961-69

1970-74

1975-84

1985-89

1990-4

1995-99

2000-

Italy

Israel

Spain