The influence of time, resource, and gender ideology on the division of domestic work in Korea

• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Author: Soomin Ryu,Jinhee Kim
• Date: 01 December 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12385

SPECIAL ISSUE

The influence of time, resource, and gender

ideology on the division of domestic work

in Korea

Soomin Ryu

1

| Jinhee Kim

2

1

School of Public Policy, University of

Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

2

Family & Consumer Sciences Program,

University of Maryland, College Park,

MD, USA

Correspondence

Soomin Ryu, School of Public Policy,

University of Maryland, 2101 Van

Munching Hall, College Park, MD 20742,

USA.

Email: sryu7@umd.edu

Abstract

The paper examines how time availability, relative

monetary contribution, and gender ideology are related

to a couple's contrib ution to domestic work in South

Korea, using data from the Korean Longitudinal Survey

of Women and Families. OLS regressions with fixed

effects indicate that couples' hours worked were signifi-

cantly associated with their own and their spouse's time

spent on domestic work. The wife's relative wage was

another essential determinant in the division of domes-

tic work between wife and husband. Although the wife's

gender ideology was not a significant factor for her

domestic work time, a husband whose wife had more

gender-equitable attitudes was more likely to devote

time to domestic work. Going beyond earlier studies, we

also present new evidence for gender display: the wife's

relative wage had a curvilinear relationship with the

couple's time spent on domestic work. The broader

implications of the mainfindings are also discussed.

KEYWORDS

domestic work, gender equality, Korea

1|INTRODUCTION

The education and socio-economic status of women in South Korea (hereafter Korea) has

improved in tandem with the country's rapid economic development. The college entrance rate

Received: 29 October 2018 Revised: 25 March 2021 Accepted: 6 April 2021

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12385

© 2021 American Council on Consumer Interests.

J Consum Aff. 2021;55:1373–1397. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca 1373

of women was estimated at 32.4% in 1990 but increased to 73.5% in 2017, thus surpassing that

of men (66.3%). Their participation in the labor market has also increased among all age groups.

The labor force participation rate of women aged 15 to 64 increased to 59.1% in 2017 from

51.9% in 2000 (Statistics Korea 2017). Despite these achievements in education and the labor

market, Korean women are still required to take on the majority of household labor. Statistics

Korea (2017) reported that out of 9.1 million married women aged 15 to 24, 1.8 million (20.0%)

have had to quit their jobs because of marriage and childbirth.

The difficulty of reconciling work and family life is mainly due to the historical and social

context of Korea. Under Confucianism, strong patriarchal values and customs were firmly

established, deeming that men should work while all household work and childcare was allo-

cated to women (Fuchs et al., 2018; Moon, 2012). These unequal gender norms have not signifi-

cantly changed in Korea, as married women in paid employment continue to take

responsibility for unpaid household labor (Sung, 2013). Even compared to other East Asian

countries whose cultures were influenced by Confucianism, employed Korean wives experi-

enced the least egalitarian division of household work as Korean men favored the traditional

divisions of household work (Oshio et al., 2013). Confucian values and practices still persist,

impeding gender equality and family well-being (Sung & Pascall, 2014).

For studying the determinants of couples' division of household work, three major theoretical

approaches have been developed: the time availability approach, the relative resources approach,

and the gender ideology approach. In Western and East Asian countries, studies have revealed

the importance of time availability for the division of domestic work (Iwai, 2017; Kamo 1988;

Kan, 2008; Kan & He, 2018; Kan & Hertog, 2017; Nagase and Brinton 2017; Presser, 1994; Tsuya

et al., 2000); however, they had mixed results for relative resources (Atkinson & Boles, 1984;

Brayfield, 1992; Hsu, 2008) and gender ideology (Hsu, 2008; Treas & Tai, 2016), depending on cul-

tural contexts such aspatriarchy (Diefenbach, 2002; Rodman, 1967).

Although a small number of studies have also investigated the division of domestic work in

Korea (Eun, 2009; Heo, 2008), none have examined longitudinal changes within the couples

over time, accounting for potential selection effects and unobserved heterogeneity, mainly due

to limitations on data. This paper examines the associations between four factors and couples'

contribution to domestic work, using 10-year longitudinal survey data with fixed effects to con-

trol unobserved heterogeneity among individuals, and is the first of such to be conducted in

Korea. The key factors are hours worked, relative wage, square of relative wage, and gender role

attitudes based on three theories of the domestic division of labor. This paper provides evidence

on how time, resource, and gender roles explain the division of domestic work in the Korean

context. Understanding gender equality at home is timely and important given the increase in

women's participation in the labor market and low fertility in Korea. Furthermore, recent stud-

ies have found that husbands' support in the domestic sphere could increase the Korean fertility

rate (Kim, 2017; Yoon, 2017); accordingly, an improved understanding of the factors associated

with the division of domestic work is crucial for family policy implications.

2|PREVIOUS LITERATURE

Equal division of household labor between wife and husband is a key factor in women's socio-

economic status, family formation and societal gender equality. However, until the late 1970s,

the study of unpaid household labor was largely neglected, as many researchers instead focused

on paid work in the formal labor market. Since 1980, some sociologists have begun to examine

1374 RYU AND KIM