Division of Household Labor in the Family

Factors identified from normative interaction, resource theory, and family development theory were related to female, shared, and male household task responsibilities of wives and husbands. The sample consisted of 68 couples in a Southeastern city. A questionnaire was used to obtain information from both wives and husbands. Findings tended to support all three frameworks. Liking of household tasks was significantly related to female, shared, and male task responsibility for wives and husbands. The husbands' educational levels and atti tudes toward women were significantly related to responsibility of husbands for non‐ traditional tasks. Attitudes toward women and educational levels of each of the spouses were related to responsibility for non‐traditional tasks of the other spouses. Employed wives tended to reduce their reponsibility for female household tasks with little or no change in the responsibility of the husband. Implications and recommendations are discussed. 1981 American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences