Women Work Harder Than Men

Gender inequality is a widespread issue in most countries. It is observed that women work harder and put in more effort than men.

Highlights:

In a household, unequal bargaining power can lead to unequal contributions to the partnership
Women who scatter at marriage to live away from their kin have greater workloads than those who remain with their natal families
Perfect sex equality in workload occurs only when men leave the home after marriage and women do not

Physical work consumes a significant amount of time and energy for the majority of individuals all over the world. But what factors influence whether men or women work harder in the home? Men are the hunters and women are the gatherers in most hunter-gatherer communities, with men appearing to trek the furthest. But how does labor differ in different societies?

Researchers conducted a study of farming and herding groups in rural China’s Tibetan borderlands, an area rich in cultural diversity, to establish which characteristics predict who works the hardest in a home and why. Their findings, published in Current Biology, give light to the gender division of labor in a variety of societies.

The majority of adults worldwide are married. Marriage is a contract, thus both partners should expect equal costs and rewards from the union. However, unequal bargaining power in a home, such as one partner threatening divorce, might result in unequal contributions to the couple.

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‘Workplace gender discrimination remains both inside and outside the home. A new study has provided an evolutionary explanation for why women are more likely than men to shoulder a significant job burden.’

Leaving the House After Marriage Increases Workload

We wanted to investigate the notion that leaving your natal place following heterosexual marriage to live with your spouse’s family may increase workload. In such weddings, the new spouse is usually not related to or has a history with anyone in the new family. They may be at a disadvantage in terms of bargaining power if they do not have blood relations nearby.

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What is Patrilocality

Women are the ‘dispersers’ in most marriages around the world, leaving their native place, while men stay with their relatives in their natal area. This is referred to as patrilocality.

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What is Neolocality, Matrilocality and Duolacality

Another prevalent practice in many parts of the world is neolocality, in which both sexes scatter at marriage and the pair lives in a new location away from both their families. Matrilocality, in which women remain with their biological family while males relocate to live with the wife and her family, is uncommon. And duolocality, in which neither sex leaves the house and husband and wife live apart, is extremely rare.

Fortunately, all four of these alternative distribution patterns may be found among numerous ethnic groups in the complex Tibetan borders.

Our research focused on rural settlements representing six different ethnic cultures. We interviewed over 500 people about their dispersal status after marriage and offered them to wear an activity tracker (like a Fitbit) to analyze their workloads with our collaborators from Lanzhou University in China.

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Gender Disparity in Workload

Our initial discovery was that women worked far harder than males and gave the majority of their earnings to their families. This was demonstrated by their reports on how much they worked as well as by their activity monitors.

Women walked somewhat more than 12,000 steps per day on average, while males walked slightly more than 9,000 steps. So males worked hard, but not as hard as women. They spent more time on recreational or social activities, or simply hanging out and sleeping.

This could be because women are physically weaker than men on average and hence have less bargaining power. However, we discovered that individuals (male or female) who scatter at marriage to live away from their kin have higher workloads than those who remain with their natal families.

Can there be Gender Equality in Workload

So, if you are a girl who marries and moves away from home (as most women do around the world), you suffer not only in terms of missing your own family but also in terms of workload. When both sexes are dispersed and no one stays with their natal families, both sexes work hard (since there is little aid from family), but the woman works harder. According to our research, perfect sex equality in workload happens only when males disperse and women do not.

These findings assist us to understand why women scatter globally but men do not. Dispersal is especially detrimental for men, who add around 2,000 extra steps per day to their step count while women only contribute about 1,000 steps per day.

Farming, herding, and housework take time and energy away from spare time. As a result, significant labor contribution to homes in these rural locations may result in less time spent resting. Giving up rest is not advantageous from an evolutionary standpoint unless it adds to better fitness, such as increasing offspring survival.

Researchers do not know whether it is beneficial in this circumstance because it has not been well investigated. It may be true in poor and rural locations around the world, but it is less true in more affluent areas.

Sedentary Lifestyle Linked to Chronic Diseases

An inactive lifestyle, for example, is becoming more prevalent in most urban places. Sedentary lifestyles in such locations among white-collar professionals, according to a study, are becoming a substantial public health hazard. They have been connected to a variety of chronic health issues, including obesity, infertility, and a variety of mental health illnesses.

Workplace gender discrimination remains both inside and outside the home. Our research now provides an evolutionary explanation for why women are more likely than men to bear a heavy job burden.

However, things are gradually changing. Women’s bargaining power is increasing as they start families apart from both their partners’ and their own families. This is aided further by their rising levels of self-created wealth, education, and autonomy. Finally, these developments are causing males to work more in many urban, industrial, or post-industrial societies.

Source-Medindia