Gender divisions of domestic labour and paid domestic services

This article investigates the relationship between the sharing of domestic tasks in dual-earner mixed-sex couples and the use of paid domestic services. Using results from a small-scale survey of the domestic outsourcing practices of employees of a large service-sector organisation in the UK, we find that in households: full-time working by women and presence of younger children is positively associated with the use of paid domestic services; there is no association between the gender division of traditionally female domestic tasks carried out within the couple and use of paid services; but in contrast, greater male involvement in traditionally male and traditionally gender-neutral tasks is positively associating with using paid domestic services. These findings tentatively suggest that a new arrangement may be emerging in which some couples address a heavy workload and a desire for a less traditional division of domestic labour by men participating more in close-ended domestic tasks and outsourcing the more time-consuming tasks traditionally undertaken by women to paid-service providers.