Women, Men, and the Division of Labor. Worldwatch Paper 37.

Because of the vital elements of economic life that national accounts often leave out, great skepticism should be attached to the use of GNP as a measure of country's well-being. National accounts in both developed and developing nations consistently overlook and undervalue work done by women, whether in the subsistence sector, the informal labor market, or the household. As a result, many hardworking women are classified as "not economically active." During the past three decades women have entered the formal labor force in unprecedented numbers. However, women workers in both rich and poor countries are subject to occupational segregation which fragments the labor market into stereotypically masculine and feminine jobs. The trend toward greater participation in paid labor on the part of women has not been matched by an increased involvement of men in unpaid work. Women have campaigned for equality in the labor force and public life, but men have not made an issue of equal access to housework and home life. Numerous serveys have examined the way men and women spend their time and findings on working women's disproportionate share of the total work load are remarkably uniform, whether one examines developed or developing countries, capitalist or socialist economies, agricultural, or industrial societies. For families in which both adults work for pay, solutions to the problem of the woman's double day include delegating some household responsibilities to persons outside the family and sharing the total workload more equitably among family members. (Author/RM)