Gender roles at home : a female perspective on gender roles in household chores and/or childcare with relation to the rise of female contribution to the workplace

Abstract

Inequality begins at home, and thus this research investigated employed women’s perception on their contribution to home related work and duties compared to that of their partner. By looking at the division of domestic responsibilities within duel-earning households, a better picture of women’s work-family life emerged, pointing at related inequalities. This picture informs the development of social policies that better support women as female employment rates keep rising. The research was conducted through a web based self-completion questionnaire that was shared on relevant Facebook Groups in Malta, yielding a return of 827 valid responses. The main findings show that within the division of home-related duties, women were 64% more likely to do most of the work. This inequality rose when it came to child-caring responsibilities which had less male contribution. Correspondingly, 81% of women stated that they were more affected by their responsibilities at home than their partners. Similar disparities also resulted in other aspects of the research as women who worked similar (or more) working hours than their partner were still more likely to contribute to household duties. In contrast, the men’s working hours highly contributed to their duties (or lack of) within the house. Even though 78% of women stated that their responsibilities at home have had an influence on their life choices and stress levels, half the women still do not see a need for change and are happy with the way things are. This finding may be intimating the persistence of gender roles within the mindset of women. Such gender roles were shown to be enforced through societal pressure, which half the women admitted to feeling, along with feelings of guilt when they were unable to keep up with their domestic work, which around 90% of women felt. Through this research, women identified three places where changes needed to be made: their home, their workplace and within society in general (through policy). Family-friendly employment initiatives were highlighted, both at a policy level as well as from the employers themselves to better women’s work-family balance. Furthermore, women also spoke about the need for an equal division of household responsibilities.