The Sexual Division of Labor Within Households: Comparisons of Couples to Roommates

Christopher Jepsen () and Lisa K. Jepsen ()

Eastern Economic Journal, 2006, vol. 32, issue 2, pages 299-312

Abstract: We compare cohabiting couples to roommates to see if couples specialize by allocating the time of one person to the labor market and the other to the home. Roommates are an interesting comparison group. Like couples, they live together. Unlike couples, they have no incentives to specialize. We study same-sex couples because, by definition, they are unable to specialize by gender. All couples, however, have incentives to pool household resources. We find that, with respect to earnings, couples specialize and roommates do not. With respect to hours worked, however, same-sex couples are indistinguishable from male and female roommates.

Date: 2006
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