The Division of Family Roles

In this paper, we analyze the marital role division between 1,212 couples taken from a probability sample of the Philadelphia urbanized area. We concentrate on the division of household tasks, of child care, and of paid employment. Using log linear techniques, we examine the effects of a variety of variables measuring social networks and the relative status of husband and wife. Data show support for a marital power model with husband's income negatively related to shared roles and with wife's education positively related to shared roles. Black couples are more likely to share household tasks than white couples.