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Study Highlights Significant Gender Inequalities in Domestic Sphere

19/06/2008

This report analyses time diaries from just over 1000 men and women, aged 18 to 97, from the Irish National Time Use Survey 2005 to gather information on paid and unpaid work. This analysis looks in detail at the breakdown of tasks between women and men. It is the first systematic study of gender differences in unpaid work among all adults in Ireland. It also looks at the distribution of time between women and men in couples.

Key findings are:

• The distribution of paid and unpaid work is very different for men and women.

• Men spend more time on paid work than unpaid work (housework and caring). On average men spend 4 hours 40 minutes on paid work per day and just under 2 hours on unpaid work per day.
• Women spend more time on unpaid work than paid work. On average women spend just over 5 hours per day on housework and caring and just over 2 hours per day on paid work.
• Given that caring and housework are unpaid and undervalued, this has implications for gender equality.

• Women's total workload - including paid and unpaid work and travel -is higher than men's.

• Women work on average around 39 minutes longer per day than men all else being equal. This may have implications for quality of life for women as those who have most committed time experience greater time pressure and lower life satisfaction.

• There are gender differences in the type of unpaid work done by women and men.

• On average women spend just over two and a half hours per day on housework whereas men spend one hour 15 minutes per day on housework.
• Women spend more time on core domestic activities like cleaning and cooking while men tend to do house repairs and gardening.
• On average women spend two and a half hours per day on caring whereas men spend 39 minutes per day on caring.
• Women spend more time on the physical care and supervision of children while men spend a much greater proportion of their time on social childcare such as playing.

• Looking just at couples, there is an unequal sharing of paid and unpaid labour between men and women in couples.

• On average women in couples do 37% of the paid work, 72% of the unpaid work and 55% of the total work per day.
• There is a more equal division of labour in dual earner couples although women still do more unpaid work than their male partner and have a higher total workload than their male partner.
• In couples with children, there is a more traditional division of labour.

"Parenthood brings a reallocation of time for both men and women" said Dr. Frances McGinnity of the ESRI. "Having children leads to a large increase in committed time and decrease in leisure time for both men and women. On average fathers do more paid work than other men and mothers spend more time doing unpaid work than other women".

Niall Crowley, Chief Executive Officer of the Equality Authority, said "This report identifies gender inequalities in the domestic sphere that significantly disadvantage women. Women continue to do the bulk of the unpaid work, men do most of the paid work in Ireland. When women work on average 39 minutes longer per day, for example, this could amount to up to one extra month committed time per year. These gender inequalities in the domestic sphere also contribute to inequalities for women in the employment sphere".

"Public policy needs to be supportive of gender equality in the domestic sphere if we are to achieve full equality in practice between women and men. Statutory leave entitlements, for example, should be reviewed to ensure they are supportive of gender equality in the domestic sphere. Paternity leave and paid parental leave are required to enhance the role of men in caring and household work. The take up by men of flexible working arrangements needs to be promoted and supported, in particular in male dominated workplaces. New state support to increase the availability of accessible and affordable childcare is required".

In comparing data from Ireland with other European Union countries, the report finds that Ireland has a relatively traditional gender division of labour. Despite the rising number of dual earner couples Ireland still has a very high proportion of male breadwinner couples compared to other EU countries. Cultural norms and behaviour would also appear to lag behind changes already evident in the labour market participation of women. Only future waves of time use data will reveal whether changing economic circumstances will result in a change in behaviour.

Notes for editors:

• Gender Inequalities in Time Use: The Distribution of Caring, Housework and Employment Among Women and Men in Ireland, by ESRI researchers Dr. Frances McGinnity and Dr. Helen Russell. The report is a joint publication of the Equality Authority and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
• The statistical analysis is based on The Irish National Time-use Survey, 2005, carried out by the ESRI on behalf of the NDP Gender Equality Unit at the Dept of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It consists of time diaries from a nationally representative sample of 1,089 Irish men and women interviewed between April and July 2005.
• The current report is the second in a series of research projects carried out as part of the Equality Authority/ESRI Research Programme on Equality and Discrimination, for details of other projects in the programme, see www.esri.ie.
• The report will be launched at the Equality Authority on Thursday 19th June at 1pm. Ends.

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