The Division of Household Labor in Taiwan

With the rapid economic development and the expanding demand for women's labor, female labor force participation rates in Taiwan climbed from 32.6% in 1966 to 46.1% in 2001 (Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, 2002). Consequently, the question of whether the change in women's economic status has produced a more equal division of household labor in Taiwan has arisen. While studies in the past few decades have yielded a large amount of knowledge about the division of labor among couples in western industrialized societies, we know relatively little about the division among couples in non-western societies. The present paper examines whether the explanatory models of the division of household labor that have been developed in western societies can be applied to Taiwan, an East Asian society immersed in the traditional Chinese culture.The majority of Taiwanese people are descendants of immigrants from southeastern China. Other people fled to Taiwan with the military after the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949. As a result, traditional Chinese culture is an essential element of the Taiwanese culture, particularly regarding the family. Gender norms in Taiwan once were governed by traditional patriarchal thinking which devalues women's status and highly emphasizes women's dependence upon men (Xu and Lai, 2002). Women were expected to be wives and/or mothers responsible for household work rather than to have jobs outside the household. Although this rigid gender hierarchy has been challenged with industrialization and urbanization over the past half century, the influence of the traditional Chinese culture remains fairly strong in Taiwan compared to other Chinese societies such as Hong Kong and mainland China (Xu & Lai, 2004).On the other hand, it is acknowledged that women's status has improved in terms of health care, education, and employment in Taiwan (Chen, Yi, and Lu, 2000). The majority of Taiwanese women now have premarital work experience, though half of them drop from the labor force due either to marriage or childbirth (Chien, 1997). In addition, many married women choose part-time or time-flexible jobs that allow them to manage heavy family responsibilities at the same time (Chen, Yi, and Lu, 2000). The intensive contact with Western societies, especially the United States, has brought a new set of values, ideas, and subsequent behaviors, however. Many statistics, such as the declining fertility rate, the delay of marriage, and the increase in divorce, seem to indicate the increasing similarity between today's Taiwanese families and those in many developed countries.Given the persistence of the traditional gender norms, the improvement in women's status, and the increasing Westernization described above, we consider Taiwanese society an ideal setting in analyzing how the interplay between women's economic standing and gender may affect the division of household labor.Economic Resources, Gender, and the Division of Household LaborThe division of household labor has been long studied as an interplay between work and family and as an embodiment of gender relationships in that particular society. Theoretical models emphasizing economic resources and/or gender have shown a certain degree of effectiveness in understanding the division of household labor in the United States. The economic resources model states that individuals with more absolute/relative resources such as occupational status and income can use them to reduce their contribution to household work (Ross, 1987; Kamo, 1988; Blair & Lichter, 1991 ; Brayfield, 1992; Presser, 1994; Blanchi et al, 2000; for reviews, see Shelton & John, 1996, Coltrane, 2000). On the other hand, the gender ideology perspective claims that husbands' egalitarian gender ideology is positively associated with their share of household work (Ross, 1987; Kamo, 1988, Blair & Lichter, 1991; Presser, 1994; but see Brayfield, 1992; Bianchi et al, 2000), while wives' is negatively related (Brayfield, 1992; Presser, 1994; Bianchi et al, 2000; but see Ross, 1987; Shelton & John, 1993). …