Marital status and the division of household labour: Cohabitation vs marriage

Examining housework patterns in cohabiting and married couples and the impact of the experience of cohabitation on subsequent domestic labour patterns within marriage - women do a much larger proportion of child care and routine indoor housework tasks than men, regardless of marital status - the gender division of labour between cohabiting partners is less traditional for women with less time spent on domestic labour than married women.

Trade relationships between the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union

This paper examines the trade relationship between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU). A simultaneous equation regression model is developed and estimated to assist with the analysis. The regression results, using both the two stage least squares (2SLS) and ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation methods, reveal the existence of feedback effects between the two economic integrations. The results also show that during times of slack in oil prices, the GCC income from its investments overseas helped to finance its imports from the EU.

An occupational view of the Australian labour force - Patterns of job growth and decline

Generally employment has been studied in terms of changes in the types of goods and services that the economy is purchasing. Far less attention has been given to the occupational aggregates that go into producing these goods and services. The few studies that did investigate this area found that the mix of tabour inputs appear to have been changing over time in a systematic pattern. The increasing prevalence of white-collar, information workers gave rise to the assertion that many societies had entered a post-industrial information age. Deals first of aff with some issues of measurement in the context of the Australian labour force, then looks at trends in various occupational groups using a non-standard four-sector classification of the labour force. Finally suggests an application in relation to the link between education and training and its ability to reduce structural unemployment.

Patterns of change and stability in the gender division of household labour in Australia, 1986-1997

Recent research in Australia and overseas has suggested that we are witnessing a convergence of men's and women's time on domestic labour activities. But there is disagreement about whether this is due to women reducing their time on housework or men increasing their time on housework. This article addresses these issues using national survey data collected in Australia in 1986, 1993 and 1997. The results show some changes in the proportional responsibilities of men and women in the home with men reporting a greater share of traditional indoor activities. But overall both men and women are spending less time on housework. In particular, women's time on housework has declined by six hours per week since 1986. Hence, while the gender gap between men's and women's involvement in the home is getting smaller, it is not the result of men increasing their share of the load, but is due to the large decline in women's time spent on domestic labour. There is also evidence of change in the relationship. between paid and unpaid work for women. Women's hours of,paid labour had a greater impact on their involvement in domestic labour in 1997 compared to a decade earlier. The article concludes that women's increased labour force involvement in combination with changing patterns and styles, of consumption is leading to some changes in the gender-division:of household labour, but not in the direction anticipated by earlier commentators on the domestic division of labour.