Education, Gender Ideology, and Housework in the Palestinian Family in Israel: Implications of Contradictory Social Change

Abstract

This article focuses on how the socio-economic status of Palestinian women in Israel influences the housework division in a cultural context where social change, such as advancement in education occurs while traditional gender roles continue to exist. Logistic regression analysis was used including factors such as a woman’s employment status, her educational achievement, her spouse’s education, and her attitudes. The findings show that a greater sharing of household chores is positively associated with woman’s time constraints and her attitudes. Attitudes also have a significant effect on a more equal division of childcare tasks. Woman’s full-time employment and whose education is similar to her spouse’s has influence on financial management. Although the current study’s findings show that women may need to decrease their availability around the house, in order to gain a more equal sharing of household tasks, attitudes, and values, are essential to modifying the allocation of household.