“ We Are Tired ”—The Sharing of Unpaid Work between Immigrant Women and Men in Portugal

Estefânia Silva (), Cláudia Casimiro, Cristina Pereira Vieira, Paulo Manuel Costa, Joana Topa, Sofia Neves, Janete Borges and Mafalda Sousa
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Estefânia Silva: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Maia, 4475-690 Maia, Portugal
Cláudia Casimiro: Interdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies (ISCSP-ULisbon), 1300-663 Lisbon, Portugal
Cristina Pereira Vieira: Interdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies (ISCSP-ULisbon), 1300-663 Lisbon, Portugal
Paulo Manuel Costa: Department of Social Science and Management, Open University, 4200-055 Porto, Portugal
Joana Topa: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Maia, 4475-690 Maia, Portugal
Sofia Neves: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Maia, 4475-690 Maia, Portugal
Janete Borges: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Maia, 4475-690 Maia, Portugal
Mafalda Sousa: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: In this article, we intend to understand and discuss how immigrant men and women living in Portugal perceive their contributions to the performance of unpaid work and how they try to deal with the situation of the greater burden on women. To this end, a qualitative methodology was used to conduct an exploratory study with 10 focus groups of immigrant men and women in five regions of the country: North, Centre, Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve. The participants, 43 females and 27 males, were aged between 19 and 80 years. From the discourse of the immigrant participants in this study, it could be concluded that the division of unpaid work between immigrant women and men is not equal, as their statements evidenced a greater responsibility and overload on women. From a traditional vision of gender roles, a persistent dichotomy of two worlds could be perceived, based on a “naturalized” vision of the social roles of gender and on a distribution grounded in biological differences. In parallel, discourses show a change in the sharing of household chores and childcare. However, this does not always occur regularly and appears very much associated with the entry of women into the paid labour market.

Keywords: immigrant men and women; sharing unpaid work; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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