Spouses Sharing Housework Equally Argumentive Essay

The ongoing changes in marital roles have been instigated by economic growth and the shift from manufacturing to service industries. This increases the demand for labor in female occupations. While women’s participation in the labor force has been increasing rapidly, the household division of labor is yet to have a matching change. Recent research strongly suggests that the macro level factors, particularly those that are related to gender inequalities, play a significant role in the distribution of housework between spouses (Cuvillier 22).

People are automatically stuck in rigid gender roles since their childhood. However, these attitudes tend to change as people grow up and mature. Men and women with traditional attitudes are less likely to share household chores. Nevertheless, those who are open-minded perceive the sharing of chores to be normal. In this regard, those spouses with progressive attitudes are more likely to share housework equally. Today’s men contribute, at best, just a third of primary housework tasks. Men’s contribution to housework in greater gender-egalitarian countries is considerably larger than elsewhere (Blau & Kahn 49).

While the division of labor in the paid workforce has been given much thought, the division of labor at home has received less scrutiny. With the growing participation, of women in the labor force, couples are required to manage competing demands for time from the family, and the work domains. A functional division of family work is associated with less depression, less marital conflicts and higher relationship satisfaction.

Women have traditionally been responsible for housework. In addition, their biological nature orients them towards household engagements. Currently, a significant number of them find the demand to work outside the home setting to be irresistible and, as such, there are many who are employed on full time basis. These women are faced with the challenge of balancing between work and family...