Mackenzie Thomas
Staff Writer
The gap between genders has been a heavily debated topic for people living in America, especially within the last decade.
According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, women statistically make an average of 82 cents to every dollar a man makes, but now more women are entering the workforce than in the past. More women are graduating college than men and in addition to that, women are now dominating fields that had previously been controlled strictly by men.
Despite women now having the opportunity to have a higher education and being more successful in the workforce, according to a study done by the Gallup in Washington DC, the majority of women seem to still take care of more stereotypical gender roles within their households. The study shows that around 50% of women clean, cook and take care of children in response to the 37%, 32% and 42% of men respectively.
“Working mothers are more likely than working fathers to be interested in part-time work and there is an ongoing debate over whether women of young children should work outside of the home,” said Dona Playton, an associate professor of law, and director of the Family and Child Legal Advocacy Clinic.
While women make approximately 50% of the workforce, Playton said the wage gap between men and women still exists.
“As more women are starting to earn as much, or even more than their husbands, roles and dynamics will likely shift,” Playton said. However, dynamic shifts like this take time, as do most issue shifts concerning gender stereotypes and roles.
Typically, men spend more time working and less time with their families in order to provide an income for their families. This can also contribute to the wage gap as women spend more time taking care of children and household duties as opposed to working.
“There are a number of factors that account for the gender wage gap and it can impact the distribution of obligations and priorities within families,” said Playton. She discussed how the wage gap, alongside family earnings, can often decipher who does what within the household.
Since women typically make less than men, household chores often fall into the hands of women.
Before the 19th century, it was very rare for a woman to attend and graduate from a university or college. Women now make up a larger percentage of student enrollment at universities and colleges within the United States.
According to the University of Wyoming’s Fall 2019 Enrollment, there were more women than men enrolled at UW for the fall of 2019. While men made up 48.3% of the student enrollment for the fall of 2019, women made up 51.7% of the total population for student enrollment.
Again, more women are striving for a college education as opposed to men, yet women are still stuck within domestic household roles. Many heterosexual couples still divide chores by gender stereotypes. Women are more likely to be tasked with laundry, cooking, cleaning and caring for the children while men are more likely to take care of yard work and vehicles within the family.
“Men’s participation in household work has increased over the years, however, most research continues to indicate that women remain primarily responsible for child-care responsibilities. Some studies even say that women spend twice as much time per day caring for children compared to men,” said Playton.
Another reason why the majority of household care and childcare falls on women with jobs and college degrees is the “motherhood penalty”. Playton gave an example of “motherhood penalty,” where research shows that employers hire childless women more than women who have children.
Though women are making strides by obtaining college degrees and entering male dominated job fields, there are still societal stereotypes that hold them back or guilt them into only doing household chores. As more and more couples attempt to make the playing field even in means of who does what around the household, gender roles may shift.
