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The Dilemma of Gender Specialization

Substituting and Augmenting Wives' Household Work

University of California, Irvine, Social Science Plaza B 4291, Irvine, CA, 92617, USA, jktreas{at}uci.edu

The greater the gender specialization in marriage, the less the overlap in the skill sets and motivations of the partners. The less the overlap, the less readily can the labor of the husband substitute for or augment the labor of the wife (and vice versa). With data on 26 countries from the 2001 International Social Survey Program, this specialization-substitution argument is evaluated based on wives' preferences for household help and emotional support. As predicted, women in more specialized marriages are more likely to favor kin and others over the husband for assistance. In countries where the public approves of traditional gender roles and men avoid "woman's work" in the home, wives are more likely than their counterparts elsewhere to prefer the assistance of kin and others over the husband's help.

Key Words: specialization • gender • household labor • emotional support • cross-national research

Rationality and Society, Vol. 20, No. 3, 259-282 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1043463108092529


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