Psychology

Division of Labor and Working-Class Women's Well-Being Across the Transition to Parenthood

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This study examines the degree to which the division of household and child-care tasks predicts working-class women's well-being across the transition to parenthood. Women completed questionnaires about the division of labor and their well-being before the birth of their first child and upon returning to work. Results showed that violated expectations regarding the division of child care were associated with increased distress postnatally, and there was some evidence that this relationship was moderated by gender ideology. Traditional women whose husbands did more child care than they expected them to do were more distressed. Work status also moderated the relationship between violated expectations and distress. The results suggest that the division of child care is more salient in predicting distress than the division of housework, for working-class women, at this time point.

Publication Title

Journal of Family Psychology

Publication Date

3-1-2004

Volume

18

Issue

1

First Page

225

Last Page

236

ISSN

0893-3200

DOI

10.1037/0893-3200.18.1.225

Keywords

working class women, parenthood, division of labor, child care, well-being, psychological distress

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