Household specialisation and gender equality in transition. Paid and unpaid work of women and men in Soviet and post-Soviet Taganrog

Using unique survey data from the Russian industrial city Taganrog in 1989 and 1998, we analyse changes in the gender division of labour among gainfully employed women and men, pre- and post-transition. In Soviet Taganrog, dual earner families predominated, but nevertheless men were usually primary earners, while women did the bulk of housework. After transition, contrary to early predictions, aggregate female and male employment rates have declined to a similar extent but the time-use data indicate increased gender specialisation among the employed .Thus, the dual earner norm mainly remains but the pre-existing gender difference within it has increased considerably, particularly among couples with pre-school children.