In recent decades, the role of wive’s earnings in keeping many families out of poverty and in improving the level of living was emphasized. But also the discussions of cost of employment caused by the dual roles were increased. The purpose of this s...
In recent decades, the role of wive’s earnings in keeping many families out of poverty and in improving the level of living was emphasized. But also the discussions of cost of employment caused by the dual roles were increased. The purpose of this study is to provide the information for enhancing the well-being og working wives by analysing the cost of employment and the evaluation of their household work. This is because that the employment of housewife was likely to be determined by the value of doing household work.
For this purpose, the data from collected through the questionnaire that had been distributed to full time housewives and working wives were used to examine the objective cost and perception of working wives.
The methods for analysing the data was gathered from 339 of full time housewives and 313 working wives were Frequency, Percentile, Factor, Analysis, Pearson’s Correlation Analysis, Simple Regression Analysis, Multiple Regression Analysis, Probit Analysis and Tobit Analysis.
The main result of this study were as follows:
1. The total working time of working wives was longer and their resort time was shorter than full time housewives. Also, the role conflict of working wives in contrast to full time wives was noticed. So the employment of housewives needed additional resources, namely time, money, and personal resources.
2. The factors of relation to the time cost and pychological cost were the variables related to the general characteristics of housewives and the situation of employment, for example, age of youngest child, family type, income, the attitude to the employment, or the status of job. In contrast to the cost of time, personal resource of working wives was relatively unflexible, the money cost of working wives was different from the economic situaltion of household, the need of family members, and the arrangement of child care. In particular, as the low income families want more income from employment, the money cost will be minimal.
3. The general percetion and subjective estimation of household work was low. This is resulted from the fact that the value of household work is inclined to be devaluated by psychological evaluation rather than real value. As these evaluations, general percetion and subjective estimation, of household work were influenced by income, the economic status of housewives might be important variables.
4. The estimation of household work could be predicted using the employment cost including the variables of sleeping time, expenditures on market goods and services, personal expenditures and role conflict. But the variables related to the estimation of household work was different from between working wives and full time wives and the prediction to the evaluation of household work between general percetion and subjective estimation was not same.
5. In the case of general percetion of household work, the psycological cost, namely role conflict of housewives was influencial variable. In contrast to this, the subjective estimation of household work was influenced by income and money cost. Therefore, the evaluation of household work, furthermore, the question of whether a housewife will have a job or not, might be depended on the economic situation and traditional sex rold attitude of housewife.
These findings show that substantial work-realted costs are incurred in dual-earner families and the value of household work was evaluted differently. Neverthless, it is another issue whether the working wives perceive the additional consumption of resoruces for keeping employment as cost. Also, it is questionalbe that the working wives perceive the opportunity cost of employment on the basis of the value of household work.
Because of these, for aiding working wives, including full time wives who want to have jobs, the studies on the employment cost and the estimation of household work are needed continually and have to suggest the data of objective cost.