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The sexual division of labor within households revisited : comparisons of couples and roommates

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  • Christopher Jepsen
  • Lisa K. Jepsen

Abstract

Becker’s theories of labor-market specialization predict that couples will allocate the time of the man mainly to the labor market and the time of the woman mainly to the home market. Previous studies fail to find evidence to support this allocation of labor. We compare cohabiting couples to roommates to study the extent to which couples specialize. Roommates make an interesting comparison group. Like couples, they live together. Unlike couples, they have no incentives to specialize with respect to labor-market traits. We include same-sex couples in our study because by definition, they are unable to specialize by gender. Couples, however, have incentives to pool household resources and to specialize. We find evidence consistent with the hypothesis that, with respect to earnings, couples specialize and roommates do not. With respect to hours worked, however, same-sex couples are indistinguishable from male and female roommates.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Jepsen & Lisa K. Jepsen, 2006. "The sexual division of labor within households revisited : comparisons of couples and roommates," Open Access publications 10197/4448, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:oapubs:10197/4448
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/4448
    File Function: Open Access version, 2006
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jepsen, Christopher & Jepsen, Lisa K., 2009. "Does home ownership vary by sexual orientation?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 307-315, May.
    2. Oreffice, Sonia, 2011. "Sexual orientation and household decision making.: Same-sex couples' balance of power and labor supply choices," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 145-158, April.
    3. Hofmarcher, Thomas & Plug, Erik, 2022. "Specialization in same-sex and different-sex couples," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. Dilmaghani, Maryam & Dean, Jason, 2020. "Sexual orientation and homeownership in Canada," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    5. Karaarslan, Can, 2021. "Differences in Unemployment due to Sexual Orientation: Evidence from the Swedish Labour Market," Working Papers for Marketing & Management 52, Offenburg University, Department of Media and Information.
    6. Maryam Dilmaghani, 2019. "Sexual orientation and the ‘cohabitation gap’ in life satisfaction in Canada," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1163-1189, December.
    7. Christopher Jepsen & Lisa K. Jepsen, 2015. "Labor-Market Specialization within Same-Sex and Difference-Sex Couples," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 109-130, January.
    8. Ali M. Ahmed & Lina Andersson & Mats Hammarstedt, 2011. "Inter‐ and Intra‐Household Earnings Differentials among Homosexual and Heterosexual Couples," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(Supplemen), pages 258-278, July.
    9. Benjamin Cerf, 2016. "Sexual Orientation, Income, and Stress at Work," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 546-575, October.
    10. Christopher Jepsen & Lisa K. Jepsen, 2017. "Self-employment, earnings, and sexual orientation," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 287-305, March.
    11. Maryam Dilmaghani, 2018. "Sexual Orientation, Labour Earnings, and Household Income in Canada," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 41-55, March.

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