Double Shifts for Women

The proportion of women in Spain’s workforce rose from 20.7 to 41.1 per cent between 1978 and 2002.

The proportion of women in Spain’s workforce rose from 20.7 to 41.1 per cent between 1978 and 2002. But this trend has not resulted in a similar increase in the proportion of men who participate in household tasks. Some 55 per cent of women who are part of a dual-earning couple still perform all household tasks.

Furthermore, 33 per cent of men do not do anything at home. “Younger women still carry out a larger amount of unpaid work than men, although in less proportion than older women. Similarly, the lower the level of education, the more likely women have more household chores,” Salomé Goñi, researcher at the Public University of Navarra, Spain, explained.

According to the study, only 12 per cent of the women in Spain surveyed share their household responsibilities equally with their partner. The European average, albeit low, stands at 25 per cent.

The study also analyses couples’ level of employment and economic dependence in relation to unpaid work. Economic dependence is important in women’s cases, whereas it does not affect men’s involvement in unpaid work. Having a job results in women no longer ‘doing everything’ but ‘sharing chores’. But if men work more outside, women are more likely to do everything. Similarly, the less wages women contribute, the more likely they are to take on all the unpaid work.