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What is known about the role of women in managing household organization--of time in particular?
Upon researching the role of women in managing household organization, several surveys have shown statistical data supporting that women contribute more to calendaring and scheduling than men. Results also showed that even as women continue to grow into the U.S. workforce, their domestic roles have not decreased, and as women bring home higher or equal salaries to their partners, they participate more actively in financial chores and obligations than in previous decades where men were the bread-winners.
"So while women are taking on more responsibilities in the paid workforce, greater financial power does not translate to greater power or equality in the domestic sphere. And even though women are playing a bigger role in the management of their family’s money, these additional responsibilities are on top of the other household tasks for which women are also responsible. Rather than sharing household responsibilities with their partners, women are simply shouldering more obligations." - Brittany L. Stalsburg, PhD
Please find summaries of the resources used to gather the requested information; each study or article can be found under a corresponding heading.
WHITMAN INSIGHT STRATEGIES SURVEY
A study completed by Whitman Insight Strategies in December of 2017 reported that of the 1,347 Americans surveyed (couples in relationships, married or living together in partnerships) 57% of women were responsible for scheduling social activities, while only 26% of men were in charge of this planning.
The survey broke down how financial responsibilities are shared between male and female adults within a household:
*Monthly utility expenses - 78% men, 83% women
*Credit card payments - 74% men, 81% women
*Financial planning and budgeting - 68% men, 65% women
*Mortgage or rent payments - 59% men, 59% women
*Grocery purchases - 65% men, 90% women
*Cooking and meal preparation - 48% men, 95% women
*Cleaning - 48% men, 88% women
*Planning social activities - 26% men, 57% women
Additionally, 55% of women were responsible for caregiver work to children or elderly family members, while only 39% of men were primary caregivers.
CHORE WARS
The article "Chore Wars: A New Working Mother Report Reveals Not Much Has Changed at Home" was published by Working Mother in April 2015, and was centered around comparing domestic chores completed by women compared to men.
Results concluded that women are primarily in charge of planning activities such as child healthcare, birthday parties, vacation planning and taking on domestic chores. Out of the chores men were likely to pick up, these same responsibilities were the most likely to be outsourced.
A chart displayed as part of the Chore Wars article listed chores by name, along with corresponding check marks indicating if the mother or father was most likely to be responsible for each one, as well as a column stating which chores are likely to be outsourced.
The chart shows that women pick up responsibility for the following tasks: Scheduling medical appointments for kids, doing laundry, folding laundry, putting laundry away, keeping the house tidy, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, shopping for kids, filling out permission slips, grocery shopping, cooking dinner, taking time off work to take kids to medical appointments, and paying the bills.
The chart shows men's responsibilities as paying bills, taking out the trash, taking trash to the curb, car maintenance, car washing, mowing the lawn, landscaping, and taxes. Outsourced tasks included car maintenance, car washing, mowing the lawn, landscaping and taxes, all of which are listed as typically the man's responsibilities.
TWO FULL-TIME WORKING PARENTS
"Raising Kids and Running a Household: How Working Parents Share the Load," an article published by Pew Research Center for Social and Demographic Trends, focuses on how working parents balance and share work and household responsibilities. Since 1970, the number of households with two full-time working parents has increased from 31% to 46%; and households where fathers work full-time and mothers do not work outside the home have decreased from 46% to 26%.
The article states that in households where both parents are working full-time, 54% of mothers are primary decision-makers when it comes to managing children's schedules and activities. Balancing work and home obligations is 60% more difficult for women compared to 52% for men.
SUMMARY
To summarize these findings, women are becoming a greater portion of the U.S. workforce, yet continuing to manage the most domestic responsibilities. All three examples provided have indicated that women play a greater role in scheduling household tasks and activities than men, and continue to carry the majority of domestic chores, despite greater obligations to their careers.