Understanding gendered inequality: Reconceptualizing housework

The article begins from the assumption that the study of housework is usually undertaken to gain an insight into gendered inequalities and the changes that might be occurring in gender relations. It is argued that existing conceptualizations of housework are of limited use for that purpose. Four conceptual problems are outlined - empirical definition; categorization; assumed communality; and ability - and illustrated with examples from published research. These four problems are argued to be symptomatic of two higher order problems - the conceptualization of inequality and of gender. Following a discussion of the limitations of existing housework research, some proposals for improving research on housework are made. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.