Undergraduate Research Journal

Perceived Division of Labor and Work-Family Conflict Among U.S. Married and Cohabiting Women in Heterosexual Couples
Genevie Co
Only minimal research has examined age, education,
household income, duration of the romantic relationship,
race and ethnicity, and number of children present in the
household. The number of children in the household for
cohabiting couples was positively related to disproportions
in the division of childcare labor. 13 Employment,
occupation, education, and urbanization did not reduce the
inequity in the division of household labor. The presence of
an older female in the household somewhat equalized the
division of household labor. 14 While no consensus exists in
prior literature on relationship status’ effect on the division
of labor and work-family conflict, some evidence supports
the idea that married and cohabiting couples will differ.
METHODS
Data and sample
This study is a secondary analysis of data from the
Married and Cohabiting Couples, 2010 [United States]
online survey conducted by the National Center for
Family and Marriage Research (NCFMR) at Bowling
Green State University. 15 NCFMR designed the study, and
KnowledgePanel (KN), a survey research consulting firm,
conducted the data collection. The data collection took
place between 7/26/2010 and 10/13/2010. The nationally
representative U.S. sample included heterosexual couples,
aged 18-64 years. The data set contained 2,150 cases
(1,075 couples), composed of 752 married couples and
323 cohabiting couples. The couples were recruited from
KN’s active database and online advertisements. Couples
in which both partners did not respond were eliminated.
The secondary data analysis was reviewed and determined to
be exempt from Federal Regulations, per 45 CFR 46.101(b)
(4), Exempt category #4, by the University of California
Riverside’s Human Research Review Board. The sample used
for this study consists of 691 women. Cases in the original
study were excluded from the sample if they were men or,
among married participants, they cohabited prior to marriage.
Measures
The two dependent variables are conflict in balancing
work and family life, and fairness of division of labor.
The original conflict variable was self-reported and
asked respondents to estimate how much conflict they
experienced by choosing from the ordinal response
options, “How much conflict do you face in balancing
your paid work and family life?”: 1= “not at all,” 2= “not
too much,” 3= “some,” 4= “a lot,” and 5= “a great deal.”
Preliminary analyses led to the creation of 2 new variables
for analysis purposes. The first variable was coded: 0= “not
at all,” 1= “not too much, some, a lot, or a great deal.” It
distinguished between women in couples with no conflict
whatsoever and women in couples with some conflict. The
second variable was coded: 0= “Not at all or not too much,”
1= “Some, a lot, or a great deal.” It distinguished between
women in couples with no problematic conflict and women
in couples with problematic conflict.
Respondents’ perceptions of the (un)fairness of the division
of labor was captured through a question asking, “How fair
do you feel the division of paid work and work around the
home is in your household” with 1= “fair to both me and
my spouse/partner,” 2= “unfair to me,” 3= “unfair to my
spouse/partner.” For analysis purposes, a dichotomous
variable was created as a measure of perceived unfairness:
0= “fair,” 1= “unfair.”
Socioeconomic status was determined by two measures,
household income and respondent’s education level.
Education was measured by the highest degree received.
The response categories were: “1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade,”
“5th or 6th grade,” “7th or 8th grade,” “9th grade,” “10th
grade,” “11th grade,” “12th grade no diploma,” “High
school graduate-diploma or the equivalent (GED),” “Some
college, no degree,” “Associate degree,” “Bachelor’s
degree,” “Master’s degree,” and “Professional or Doctorate
degree.” The 19 response categories for household income
ranged from “Less than $5,000,” to “$175,000 and more.”
Time in the focal couple relationship was measured by the
number of years that married couples had been married and
cohabiting couples had been dating. The presence of minor
children in the household was measured dichotomously:
0= “none”, 1= “One or more.” Race/ethnicity was selfreported
and was measured dichotomously: 0= “other race/
ethnicity” and 1= “non-Hispanic White.” The number of
times the respondent has been married was measured by
a continuous variable: 0= “never married,” 1= “married
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 7