Social times, reproduction and social inequality at work : contrasts and comparative perspectives between countries

Production of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004If the focus is placed specifically on the problem of work and family, the daily life of people and their use of time are a main problem. This time is expressed in both freely available time, which is related to activities, and time of the productive and reproductive sphere. This chapter considers work in a broad sense and takes into account the sexual division of labour. Specifically, this chapter will explore transformations in time use and social inequality in unpaid work. For this purpose, a comparative analysis of time-use surveys will be used, analysing the time spent, and the time dedicated to household chores in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Spain. From an analytical viewpoint, the analysis will place social reproduction at the centre of the socio-economic system, showing that the economic crisis has affected women and men differently, and that in both Europe and Latin America the family pattern is being replaced by a dominant family model of a male provider and a double presence of women. The large-scale incorporation of women into the labour market has emphasised the role that women assume in the domestic sphere perpetuating gender segregation in employment and in domestic and care work

Types of Combined Family-to-Work Conflict and Enrichment and Subjective Health in Spain: A Gender Perspective

Family-to-work conflict and enrichment indicate how participation in the family can influence negatively or positively participation at work, respectively. These experiences have been proved to co-occur within individuals at different levels and explain their well-being in a more nuanced way than conflict and enrichment in isolation. This study examines how Spanish women and men experience conflict and enrichment concurrently in different types and the consequences to their subjective health. First, in line with social role theory and the gendered division of household labor, we hypothesized on gender differences in the types of combined conflict and enrichment experiences. Second, incorporating theory on conservation of resources and identity, we hypothesized on the consequences of the specific types of combined conflict and enrichment to subjective health from a gender perspective. Using chi-square test on a sample of 236 women and 165 men, we confirmed that women and men differed in their types of combined conflict and enrichment experience: the beneficial (higher enrichment than conflict) and active types (similar higher conflict and enrichment) were mainly composed of women whereas the passive type (similar lower conflict and enrichment) was mainly composed of men. Using a MANOVA, we confirmed that the types of combined conflict and enrichment explained significant differences in subjective health in a similar way for women and men. Overall the findings debunk the belief that higher participation in family roles interferes with work more negatively among women, or that higher participation in family roles affect their health more negatively than men. We discuss theoretical and practical implications