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Perceived Division of Labor and Work-Family Conflict Among U.S. Married and Cohabiting Women in Heterosexual Couples Genevie Co with higher household incomes were .933 the odds of women with lower incomes. Minor children present in household was associated with a greater likelihood of reporting conflict; the odds of reporting conflict for women with minor children present in household were 1.693 the odds of women without minor children present in household. Being currently employed was associated with a greater likelihood of reporting conflict; the odds of reporting conflict for currently employed women were 1.766 the odds of other women. Educational attainment was positively related to the likelihood of reporting conflict; the odds of more highly educated women reporting conflict were 1.199 the odds of other women. Other variables did not show statistically significant effects. The Nagelkerke R Square indicated that approximately 8% of the variance in the dependent variable was explained by the variables in the model. DISCUSSION This secondary data analysis aimed to determine whether married women differ from cohabiting women in levels of perceived fairness of the division of labor and in the amount of work-family conflict. Although the bivariate results showed that larger percentages of married women perceived a fair division of labor whereas larger percentages of cohabiting women reported work-family conflict, these differences did not persist in the multivariate results. Only 3% of the variance in the dependent variable was explained by the variables included in Table 2. Perhaps variables such as women’s feelings of being appreciated are more relevant. 7 The variables included in the models in Table 3 explained a substantial amount of the differences. However, the statistical significance of the variables differed between models, suggesting that the relevant variables that explain “no conflict versus some conflict” and “none-to-acceptable conflict versus unacceptable conflict" differ. It is possible that married and cohabiting women have different expectations, or similar divisions of labor and amounts of conflict. Cohabiting women may not expect to do “women’s work” and may expect their partners to do half of the household labor, while married women may expect to do a larger portion of the work, and specifically “women’s work”. Cohabiting women may expect not to experience work-family conflict because they are not married, thus they should not have the usual problems of married life. Consequently, they may define their conflict as a conflict in interests and as a problem, while married people define their conflict as juggling responsibilities. Thus, both married and cohabiting women may not have the same division of labor and amounts of conflict, but differing expectations may lead to similar perceptions. The higher percentage of minor children present in cohabiting households may explain the higher rates of reported conflict and perceived unfairness of division of labor in cohabiting households. Consistent with past research, 13 having minor children decreased the likelihood of reporting unfair division of labor. The association between times married and conflict may be due to the lessons learned from each marriage; women with more experience may better pick partners and have more realistic expectations of marriage. Thus, the division of labor may not be more equal and the less conflict experienced, but different expectations simply led to different perceptions. The higher educational attainment a woman had, the more likely she was to report conflict. Educated women may not actually experience higher levels of conflict, but rather have differing expectations (such as expecting less conflict) compared to women with lower educational attainment. Alternatively, because higher educated women are more likely to hold more demanding jobs (such as managerial positions, doctors, etc.) that come with more after-work responsibilities, these jobs may compete more with home life than the kinds of jobs held by less educated women. Consistent with past research, 14 being currently employed increased the likelihood of reporting conflict. Although the data did not support all of the hypotheses, it lent support to the possible alternate explanation of gendered expectations. Future research can explore this possibility. Several limitations to the study should be considered when interpreting the results. There were no data on when cohabiting couples moved in together and began cohabiting; the study was limited to when the couples started dating. This data would have allowed for a more direct comparison between married and cohabiting women, as it would measure the time of the focal relationship from when the couples began living together. Although all 1 0 U C R U n d e r g r a d u a t e R e s e a r c h J o u r n a l
Perceived Division of Labor and Work-Family Conflict Among U.S. Married and Cohabiting Women in Heterosexual Couples Genevie Co income brackets were represented, the sample as a whole was fairly affluent. The overwhelming response of fairness and lack of conflict for both married and cohabiting women may have been due to the non-independent nature of the sampling method, as cases were only included if both partners/spouses responded to the survey, selecting out couples that may not have both completed the sample due to unwillingness to help his/her partner. The fact that both partners participated implies some level of functioning and willingness to help one’s partner. This study highlights two areas for future research: the actual amount of household labor performed by each member of the couple compared to the attitudes and perceptions of cohabiting and married couples and the effect of cohabitation before marriage on division of labor and conflict in married life. As the data used for this study did not collect on the actual proportion of household labor allocated to each spouse/partner, future research is needed on the actual amount of household labor performed by each compared to the attitudes and perceptions of cohabiting and married couples. Additionally, as married women who had previously cohabited were excluded from the data set, future research is needed on the effect of cohabitation before marriage on division of labor and conflict in married life. References 1. Lamanna, Mary Ann, and Agnes Reidman. 2012. Marriages, Families, and Relationships. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. 2. Hamplova, Dana. 2002. “Marriage and Cohabitation: Qualitative Differences in Partnership Arrangements.” Czech Sociological Review. (38)6: 781. 3. Baxter, Janeen. 2005. “To Marry or Not to Marry: Marital Status and the Household Division of Labor.” Journal of Family Issues. (26)3: 300, 314. 4. Shelton, Beth Anne, and Daphne John. 1993. “Does Marital Status Make a Difference? Housework among Married and Cohabiting Men and Women.” Journal of Family Issues. (14)3: 408-418. 5. South, Scott, and Glenna Spitze. 1994. “Housework in Marital and Nonmarital Households.” American Sociological Review. (59)3: 327, 340-345. 6. Benin, Mary Holland, and Joan Agostinelli. 1988. “Husbands’ and Wives’ Satisfaction with the Division of Labor.” Journal of Marriage and Family. 50(2): 349, 358-360. 7. Hawkins, Alan, Christina Marshall, and Kathryn Meiners. 1995. “Exploring Wives’ Sense of Fairness About Family Work: An Initial Test of the Distributive Justice Framework.” Journal of Family Issues. 16(6): 718. 8. Stafford, Rebecca, Elaine Backman, and Pamela Dibona. 1977. “The Division of Labor among Cohabiting and Married Couples.” Journal of Marriage and Family. 39(1): 50-52, 54-55. 9. Sayer, Liana. 2005. “Gender, Time and Inequality: Trends in Women’s and Men’s Paid Work, Unpaid Work and Free Time.” Social Forces. 84(1): 286, 292, 298. 10. Bianchi, Suzanne, Melissa Milkie, Liana Sayer, and John Robinson. 2000. “Is Anyone Doing the Housework? Trends in the Gender Division of Household Labor.” Social Forces. 79 (1): 218-219. 11. Presser, Harriet. 1994. “Employment Schedules Among Dual-Earner Spouses and the Division of Household Labor by Gender.” American Sociological Review. 59(3): 348. 12. Presser, Harriet. 1994. “Employment Schedules Among Dual-Earner Spouses and the Division of Household Labor by Gender.” American Sociological Review. 59(3): 362. 13. Gonzales, Maria-Jose, Pau Miret, and Rocio Treviño. (2010). “‘Just Living Together’: Implications of cohabitation for fathers’ participation in child care in Western Europe.” Demographic Research. 23(16): 463-466. 14. Massey, Garth, Karen Hahn, and Dusko Sekulic. 1995. “Women, Men, and the ‘Second Shift’ in Socialist Yugoslavia.” Gender and Society. 9(3): 359, 369. 15. National Center for Family and Marriage Research. Married and Cohabiting Couples, 2010 [United States] [Computer file]. ICPSR31322-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2011-08-18. doi:10.3886/ ICPSR31322.v1. U C R U n d e r g r a d u a t e R e s e a r c h J o u r n a l 1 1
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