Understanding Workday Housework Participation: Testing Three Theories

In this study we examine the usefulness of three theories (time availability theory, gender ideology theory, and relative resources) in predicting workday housework performance among partnered and married mothers and fathers. In doing so, we incorporate an extended version of time availability theory that considers the use of flexible scheduling and the presence of nonstandard work hours in addition to number of hours worked. Our hypotheses are addressed with data from a nationally representative sample of employed adults. Our results show that none of the theories are useful in predicting fathers’ workday housework performance; however, two theories are beneficial for predicting mothers’ performance. Specifically, mothers with more traditional gender ideologies (in support of gender ideology theory) along with mothers who work fewer hours than their partners (in support of time availability theory) perform more workday housework. Additionally, and in support of an extended version of time availability theory, we find the use of flexible scheduling among mothers is associated with higher levels of workday housework performance. Implications of the study are discussed