Explaining men's and women's participation in household labor: Is there a need to reconsider existing theoretical perspectives?

The present study examined the extent to which Israeli men and women participate in three domains of household labor: domestic tasks, technical household maintenance, and running errands. In an attempt to understand the sources of the division of household labor in each of these domains, we examined the validity of three theoretical perspectives: relative resources theory, gender role ideology theory, and family systems theory. The sample consisted of 429 employed Jewish Israeli parents (213 men, and 216 women) with at least one child living at home. Spousal earning patterns and occupational prestige patterns contributed to explaining participation in household labor among men but not among women. Feminine gender role ideology contributed significantly to explaining men's participation in domestic tasks. Contrary to expectations, the higher the men's assessments of marital quality were, the less they participated in domestic tasks, whereas the women's experience of high marital quality was related to less participation in technical household maintenance.