Gender Difference In Housework And Its Influence On Workplace Inequality

In 2019 the United Nations International Labor Organization released a report saying that women around the world face huge inequality in the workplace and that housework is the main reason.For a long time,women in China have played a dominant role in housework,spending more time on housework than men.According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ National Time Use Survey Bulletin,men in China spend only about one-third of women’s time on housework.Women spend a lot of time on housework,sacrificing a lot of time for work,study and training,all of which seriously affect the development of women in China’s workplace.Firstly,in the labor force participation process,a large number of women encounter barriers to finding employment due to family care responsibilities,and the employment rate for women remains low for a long time.Secondly,the majority of women have to choose flexible employment or part-time work in order to earn a wage,which is below the average wage level.Again,occupational gender segregation is prominent.Traditionally,women are more often found in the service sector,retail,etc.,but these sectors are generally characterized by lower wages and high substitutability.Finally,domestic work ties women down,leaving them without opportunities for corporate training and promotion.Worldwide today,less than a third of managers are women.It is particularly important to look at how the division of labor in the home can solve the current dilemma of women’s workplace development.This paper takes the time spent on housework as the entry point for gender differences in housework and focuses on the following questions: 1.What is the current situation and trend of gender differences in housework in China? 2.What are the factors affecting gender differences in domestic work? What is the impact of education-marriage matching on gender differences in domestic work? 3.What is the impact of gender differences in domestic work on workplace inequality(labor participation,wage income,occupational gender segregation,career development)?Based on the analytical framework of time availability theory and relative resource theory,this study uses micro-survey data from previous years to focus on the impact of educational marriage matching patterns on gender differences in domestic work and the impact of gender differences in domestic work on workplace inequality.The specific content of this study is divided into six parts.The first part is the introduction,which mainly details the research background and significance of this paper,the research ideas and content as well as the research data and methods.The second part is a theoretical foundation and literature review,which firstly defines the concepts of domestic work and workplace inequality,and secondly composes the main explanatory theories of gender differences in domestic work,and reviews the relationship between gender differences and gender inequality,factors influencing gender differences in domestic work,phenomena and causes of workplace inequality,and gender differences in domestic work and workplace inequality.The third part analyses the current situation and trends of gender differences in domestic work from a macro perspective using descriptive statistics in a multi-dimensional manner.The current situation and trends of gender differences in domestic work are illustrated from four characteristics: urban-rural differences,regional differences,industry differences and international differences.The time span is from 2010 to 2018,and the regions cover five regions in China: East,West,South,North and Central,while the occupations cover eight industries such as service industry,education industry and construction industry,and the international geography covers 10 countries in six continents.The fourth part is based on the perspective of educational marriage matching,using multiple linear regression models and difference decomposition method,to analyze the "high male and low female","high female and low male" and "gender parity" from a micro-measurement perspective."The three models of educational-marriage matching have been used to analyze the impact of gender differences in domestic work.The important role of marginal changes in female education is also considered.The fifth section examines the consequences of workplace inequality due to gender differences in domestic work,using multiple linear regression models to examine the impact of gender differences in domestic work in 2018 on four dimensions of workplace inequality in 2020: labor force participation,wage earnings,occupational gender segregation and career development.The sixth section summaries the findings of the study and suggests countermeasures.The findings of this paper conclude that,firstly,gender differences in housework time are prevalent globally and are more pronounced between countries.East Asian countries,which are deeply influenced by their socio-cultural background,have significantly higher gender differences than other regions.The gender differences in domestic work in China show a general downward trend,with smaller gender differences in rural areas than in urban areas,larger differences in central and western regions than in eastern regions,and the smallest gender differences in the education sector and the largest gender differences in the mining industry.Secondly,a higher level of education for women in the household significantly reduces the gender gap in household work hours.In contrast,a higher level of education for males in households significantly increases the gender gap in household work time.Marginal changes in women’s educational attainment have a significant impact on the time spent on housework,with women’s educational attainment showing the greatest change from lower to upper secondary school.Third,the gender gap in time spent on housework has a significant effect on wage earnings and occupational gender segregation.The greater the gender difference in household work time,the lower the wage income.For both males and females,an increase in the gender gap in household work time increases occupational gender segregation.The gender gap in household work time has a more pronounced effect on occupational gender segregation for women.Based on the above findings,the following countermeasures are proposed:First,create more favorable conditions for work-family balance.In addition to focusing on individual time allocation issues,favorable conditions should be created for work-family balance from the perspective of society,enterprises and institutions.This includes society building a culture of gender equality,enterprises implementing flexible working hours and telecommuting,and social institutions taking on childcare.Secondly,women’s education should be upgraded to raise the level of acceptance of "downward marriage".Women will benefit from a strong focus on education.Women’s higher education levels will change the previous situation where "men are more educated and women are less educated",and women can try to choose a man with a lower education level and a lower salary than themselves as their spouse,so that they can share the domestic work in their future marriage.The "upward marriage" model for women may become a thing of the past,and the "downward marriage" phenomenon is increasingly recognized by women themselves and society.Thirdly,the promotion of gender equality in employment and the fight against gender discrimination in employment.Promote employment opportunities for women and the quality of employment,so that women with higher levels of education can have equal access to employment opportunities with men,break down occupational gender segregation and promote equality in the workplace.Adopt laws to guarantee equal pay for men and women for equal work and reduce the gender pay gap.For women,social service organizations provide special training in management skills and leadership arts to promote women’s career development.Fourth,create a favorable social and cultural environment to build a gender-equal society.Cultural policies that promote gender harmony and equal development should be formulated to build an image of excellent women.The establishment of a public cultural service system in society should be strengthened to enrich the spiritual and cultural life of women.Care for girls and women should be increased,and society should be advocated to establish the concept of gender equality between men and women and promote the equal development of both sexes.