| Abstract: | Literature on sex roles encompasses numerous studies on the division of responsibility in late-life marriages. Some older wives report that they continue to assume responsibility for mos: household chores and they actually perform most tasks. Other wives claim that following retirement, husbands increase their participation within the household arena. However, the increase tends to be in the level of activity involvement rather than in assuming responsibility for new or non-traditional chores. The trend toward egalitarianism in later life, especially for happy couples, is documented by numerous studies. It appears that while role expectations are less gender-specific among older people, they tend to follow the patterns established during middle-age. However, the research is not conclusive. No analysis has compared different living environments of older couples. A sample (n = 244) or older wives (mean age 72 years) living in two different residential settings were questioned via a mailed survey about their responsibility and behaviours regarding 12 household tasks: cooking meals, washing dishes, doing yard work, washing clothes, maintaining the car, writing letters, scheduling family events, getting or earning money, cleaning house, shopping, undertaking household repairs and making family decisions. High scores suggest a non-traditional approach to sex-role tasks, while low scores suggest egalitarian relationships. The views that wives have of division of responsibility of household tasks is explored: who should take responsibility for tasks and who does the tasks? Variables previously found to influence sex-role beliefs are examined. In particular, relationships between sex roles and marital quality, length of marriage, family income, frequency of interaction with children, residential environment and health are presented. |
