Who Does What: Role Stereotypy, Children's Work, and Continuity Between Generations in the Household Division of Labor

Abstract

Inclusion of children in the present interview study of 99 families required adaptation of the Blood and Wolfe measures of division of labor. The revised measure of stereotypy reveals a more complex picture than reported previously. There are distinct differences unrelated to objective conditions between families in their attitudes toward children's chores. It is suggested that the best single predictor of a family's division of labor may be the previous generation, but there is also less variation between families now than in the past. Most families continue to be quite traditional in their pattern, with strong emphasis on division of labor by sex for both parents and children.