FACTORS RELATED TO HOUSEHOLD AND CHILD CARE TASK RESPONSIBILITY OF SPOUSES IN HOUSTON,TEXAS

What are the differences in household and child care task responsibility by the employment role responsibility of spouses? What are the differences in the relationships between task preference, quality of task performance, and sex-role ideology and household and child care task responsibility of spouses by the employment role responsibility of the spouses? What are the most important variables in determining household and child care responsibility? Data were collected from a random sample of wives and husbands in Houston, Texas. The sample (n = 151) was generally characterized as white, middle-aged, upper income, and middle class. Wives who shared the employment role had less responsibility for female and child care tasks and husbands had more responsibility for female tasks than spouses in families in which the husband had total responsibility for the employment role. However, spouses who shared the employment role maintained major responsibility for their traditional household and child care tasks. Although liking of the tasks, quality of task performance, and sex-role attitudes were related to household and child care task responsibility, these relationships were not significantly different when the employment role was shared or was the total responsibility of the husband. Multiple regression analyses revealed that quality of task performance was the most frequent significant variable in determining household and child care task responsibility. Implications and recommendations are given.