The Impact of Social Policy on the Gendered Division of Housework

Abstract

In an effort to better understand how women and men divide paid and unpaid labor in the family, researchers have begun to move beyond individual‐level explanations toward structural‐level explanations. In this article, I review empirical research that conceptualizes social structure as the availability of work‐family policies, at both the national and the employer level. The article has three sections. First, I provide an overview of the ways in which macrolevel, work‐family policies are theorized to shape the gendered division of labor in the home. Next, I review the theory and empirical research associated with each specific work‐family policy. I conclude with suggestions for future research in this area .