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Domestic outsourcing and multitasking: How much do they really contribute?
Oriel Sullivan1, Jonathan Gershuny
1Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, Manor Road, Oxford OX1 3UQ, UK.
Social Science Research
|July 18, 2013
Summary
Women bear the brunt of domestic work. While outsourcing domestic help and multitasking are coping strategies, they do not significantly reduce women's overall workload or unpaid labor, contrary to common assumptions.
Area of Science:
- Sociology
- Economics
- Gender Studies
Background:
- Heterosexual couples disproportionately assign domestic work and childcare to women.
- Coping mechanisms like outsourcing domestic help and multitasking are often cited but understudied in relation to labor division.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how women cope with domestic workload and childcare.
- To examine the relationship between coping strategies (outsourcing, multitasking) and factors influencing the division of labor.
Main Methods:
- Utilized UK 2000/2001 time-use data from 4196 heterosexual couples.
- Analyzed the impact of domestic outsourcing and multitasking on workload and labor division.
Main Results:
- Domestic outsourcing correlates with dependent children and partner resources but minimally impacts total workload.
- Outsourcing does not explain reduced unpaid labor for women with higher economic resources.
- Women multitask more, but the proportion of multitasked domestic time is similar between genders and unaffected by resources or children.
Conclusions:
- Domestic outsourcing and multitasking offer limited relief from the overall domestic and childcare burden for women.
- Multitasking appears driven more by opportunity (time at home) than time pressure.
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