Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Paid Work and Domestic Labor in Disadvantaged Communities on the Outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article explored the association between economic activity and the contribution to domestic labor in a Middle Eastern society. Analyses were carried out on cross-sectional survey data from 5,998 individuals, aged between 18 and 64 years, in three poor communities in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. Domestic labor was evaluated with a composite index that takes into account both the type of task performed and the level of involvement. Housework categories included core household chores, care giving, financial management, home management, and home/car maintenance. Results showed that women continue to do most of the domestic labor in the three communities. However, women’s load of domestic labor decreased as they joined the labor market, whereas men’s contribution to domestic labor increased with involvement in paid work. Relatively speaking, the difference in contribution to housework between house members engaged and not engaged in paid labor was much higher for women than it was for men.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Administration Centrale de la Statistique (1998). Etudes statistiques: Conditions de vie des ménages en 1997 (Etudes Statistiques no. 9). Beirut: Publications de L’Administration Centrale de la Statistique.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antill, J. K., & Cotton, S. (1988). Factors affecting the division of labor in households. Sex Roles, 18, 531–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apparala, L. M., Reifman, A., & Munsch, J. (2003). Cross-national comparison of attitudes toward fathers’ and mothers’ participation in household tasks and childcare. Sex Roles, 48, 189–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Assaad, R. (2002). The Egyptian labor market in an era of reform. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baxter, J. (2002). Patterns of change and stability in the gender division of household labour in Australia, 1986–1997. Journal of Sociology, 38, 399–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi, S. M., Milkie, M. A., Sayer, L. C., & Robinson, J. P. (2000). Is anyone doing the housework? Trends in the gender division of household labor. Social Forces, 79, 191–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blood, R. O., & Wolfe, D. M. (1960). Husbands and wives. New York: Free.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolak, H. C. (1997). When wives are major providers: Gender, culture, and the family. Gender & Society, 11, 409–433.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brayfield, A. A. (1992). Employment resources and housework in Canada. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 19–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brines, J. (1994). Economic dependency, gender, and the division of labor at home. American Journal of Sociology, 100, 652–688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, D. (1985). Household, marriage, and family life among the Al Murrah of Saudi Arabia. In S. Ibrahim & N. Hopkins (Eds.), Arab society: Social science perspectives (pp. 196–211). Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coltrane, S. (2000). Research on household labor: Modeling and measuring the social embeddedness of routine family work. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1208–1233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corrigall, E. A., & Konrad, A. M. (2006). The relationship of job attitudes preferences to employment, hours of paid work, and family responsibilities: An analysis comparing women and men. Sex Roles, 54, 95–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demo, D. H., & Acock, A. C. (1993). Family diversity and the division of domestic labor: How much have things really changed? Family Relations, 42, 323–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diefenbach, H. (2002). Gender ideologies, relative resources, and the division of housework in intimate relationships: A test of Hyman Rodman’s theory of resources in cultural context. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 43, 45–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Missiri, N. (1985). Family relationships in a Harah in Cairo. In S. Ibrahim & N. Hopkins (Eds.), Arab society: Social science perspectives (pp. 212–222). Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grana, S. J., Moore, H. A., Wilson, J. K., & Miller, M. (1993). The contexts of housework and the paid labor force: Women’s perceptions of the demand level of their work. Sex Roles, 28, 295–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenstein, T. N. (1996). Husbands’ participation in domestic work: Interactive effects of husbands’ and wives’ gender ideologies. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 585–595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenstein, T. N. (2000). Economic dependence, gender, and the division of labor at home: A replication and extension. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 322–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habib, R. R., Nuwayhid, I., Merhi, M., & Myntti, C. (2005). Gendered division of household responsibilities in the urban outskirts of Beirut. Proceedings of the IV International Congress on Women Work & Health, New Delhi (p. 74).

  • Hanssen-Bauer, J., Pedersen, J., & Tiltnes, Å. A. (Eds.). (1998). Jordanian society: Living conditions in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Oslo: Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science.

  • Hossain, Z., & Roopnarine, J. L. (1993). Division of household labor and child care in dual-earner African-American families with infants. Sex Roles, 48, 571–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization (1983). Thirteenth international conference of labour statisticians: Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment. Bulletin of Labour Statistics, 3, xi–xv.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamali, D., Sidani, Y., & Safieddine, A. (2005). Constraints facing working women in Lebanon: An insider view. Women in Management Review, 20, 581–594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, S. (1996). Patriarchy and development in the Arab world. Gender and Development, 4(2), 14–19.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kalleberg, A. L., & Rosenfeld, R. A. (1990). Work in the family and in the labor market: A cross-national, reciprocal analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 331–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khalaf, M. (1993). The Lebanese woman and the labour market. Al-Raida, X(61), 14–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroska, A. (2003). Investigating gender differences in the meaning of household chores and child care. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 65, 456–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manke, B., & Seery, B. L. (1994). The three corners of domestic labor: Mothers’, fathers’, and children’s weekdays and weekends. Journal of Marriage and Family, 56, 657–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, S., Beaujot, R., & Haddad, T. (2000). Time constraints and relative resources as determinants of the sexual division of domestic work. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 25, 61–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKeen, C. A., & Bu, N. (2005). Gender roles: An examination of the hopes and expectations of the next generation of managers in Canada and China. Sex Roles, 52, 533–546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milkie, M. A., & Peltola, P. (1999). Playing all the roles: Gender and the work-family balancing act. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 476–490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakhaie, M. R. (1995). Housework in Canada: The national picture. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 26, 409–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Commission for Lebanese Women (1997). The Lebanese woman 1970–1995: Statistics and interpretations. Beirut: NCLW. (in Arabic).

    Google Scholar 

  • Press, J. E., & Townsley, E. (1998). Wives’ and husbands’ housework reporting gender, class, and social desirability. Gender & Society, 12, 188–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Presser, H. B. (1994). Employment schedules among dual earner spouses and the division of household labor by gender. American Sociological Review, 59, 348–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rassam, A. (1980). Women and domestic power in Morocco. International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 12, 171–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rugh, A. (1984). Family in contemporary Egypt. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, L. (1993). Women’s power and the gendered division of domestic labor in the third world. Gender & Society, 7, 434–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shelton, B. A., & John, D. (1996). The division of household labor. Annual Review of Sociology, 22, 299–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • South, S. J., & Spitze, G. (1994). Housework in marital and nonmarital households. American Sociological Review, 59, 327–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spade, J. Z., & Reese, C. A. (1991). We’ve come a long way, maybe: College students’ plans for work and family. Sex Roles, 24, 309–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Starrels, M. E. (1994). Husbands’ involvement in female gender-typed household chores. Sex Roles, 31, 473–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tichenor, V. L. (1999). Status and income as gendered resources: The case of marital power. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 638–650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Twiggs, J. E., McQuillan, J., & Feree, M. M. (1999). Meaning and measurement: Reconceptualizing measures of the division of household labor. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 712–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) & the Ministry of Social Affairs. (1997). Population and housing survey (PHS), 1994–1996. Beirut: UNFPA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Willigen, M., & Drentea, P. (2001). Benefits of equitable relationships: The impact of sense of fairness, household division of labor, and decision making power on perceived social support. Sex Roles, 44, 571–597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust, Mellon, and Ford Foundations. The authors thank Huda Zurayk and Cynthia Myntti for their comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, 3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 8th floor, New York, NY, 10017-2303, USA

    Rima R. Habib, Iman A. Nuwayhid & Joumana S. Yeretzian

Authors
  1. Rima R. Habib
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Iman A. Nuwayhid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joumana S. Yeretzian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rima R. Habib.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 4 Weights of household tasks in Hay el Sellom, Nabaa, and Burj Barajneh Camp, UHS.
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Habib, R.R., Nuwayhid, I.A. & Yeretzian, J.S. Paid Work and Domestic Labor in Disadvantaged Communities on the Outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon. Sex Roles 55, 321–329 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9086-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9086-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation