The effects of work history and timing of marriage on the division of household labor: A life-course perspective

First-married couples (n = 1,467) interviewed for the National Survey of Families and Households were studied to evaluate how two life-course measures, work history and marital timing, predicted the time each spouse spent doing mundane housework. Housework time estimates of each spouse were regressed on life-course measures, background factors, sex role attitudes, and work-based resources in hierarchical regressions. Direct relations were found for each spouse's work history on husbands' contributions to housework. Only indirect relations, however, were supported for marital timing and employment histories with wives' housework contributions. Timing of marriage was related to family composition, which, in turn, affected women's housework. In addition, women's employment history predicted the types of jobs women were likely to have, which influenced their time spent doing housework.