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1 – 10 of over 2000
Book part
Publication date: 8 December 2023

Cassie Mead

Past research has established a relationship between the perceptions of fairness in the division of household labor and relationship satisfaction. Varying according to gender and…

Abstract

Past research has established a relationship between the perceptions of fairness in the division of household labor and relationship satisfaction. Varying according to gender and time, this relationship has been found with differing outcomes, including relationship satisfaction, relationship happiness, divorce, and sexual frequency. Although this relationship has been well studied, little research has focused on how this relationship is moderated by relationship status. According to the Second Demographic Transition Theory (SDT), as societies become more “modern,” cohabitation will become more prevalent, eventually becoming socially and culturally equivalent to marriage. As such, it is vital to ask how cohabitation and marriage differ, or if they differ at all. Therefore, this gap is explored by asking, “How do perceptions of the division of household labor affect married and cohabitating heterosexual couples’ relationship happiness and chance of separation?” In order to answer this question, the National Survey of Families and Households (Wave III) is analyzed, with outcomes focusing on relationship happiness and chance of separation. Results indicate that when married and cohabitating individuals experience similar levels of happiness with their partner’s housework, they also experience similar levels of relationship happiness and chance of separation, with relationship status not affecting the impact happiness with partner’s housework has on these relationship outcomes. This suggests that cohabitation and marriage may continue to become more similar overall.

Details

Cohabitation and the Evolving Nature of Intimate and Family Relationships
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-418-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 April 2024

Sabiha Afrin and Md. Khaled Saifullah

As women perform most household chores and other nonproductive work, gender-based division of labor in the home has now been identified as a barrier to gender equality. The…

Abstract

Purpose

As women perform most household chores and other nonproductive work, gender-based division of labor in the home has now been identified as a barrier to gender equality. The objective of this study is to assess the effects of gender distribution of housework especially for women and investigate the factors influencing the total hours spent on house chores in Bangladesh.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a quantitative approach based on survey data obtained from 200 households in the Madaripur and Gopalganj districts of Bangladesh. To analyze the obtained data, the partial least squares (PLS) regression was used.

Findings

According to this study, demographic and socioeconomic factors of women, and gender are influencing the total hours spent in housework. Women were observed to have a positive relationship with empowerment but a negative relationship with social perception. Social perception was further observed to have a significant impact on the total number of hours expended by women on house chores.

Practical implications

The study suggests that the importance of sharing the burden of household work be taught in schools and community-based awareness programs so that it becomes ingrained as a social and cultural practice. Furthermore, the government should conduct a proper assessment that recognizes unpaid housework by women as an important factor in inclusive sustainable development.

Originality/value

Issues of inequality in the division of labor in household activities are barely recognized in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study collected primary data to assess the effects of gender on the distribution of housework. The findings of the study will help policymakers and academicians to better understand the gender-based division of household labor.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-03-2023-0195.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 March 2024

Elgazzar Iman Mahmoud Khalil

At the beginning of the 21st century, a new class of information workers, the “information have-less” has risen. This class of workers alleviates the influence of information and…

Abstract

Purpose

At the beginning of the 21st century, a new class of information workers, the “information have-less” has risen. This class of workers alleviates the influence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) revolution on poverty and unemployment. The purpose of this study is to investigate the presence of this class of workers in Egypt and assess the size and potential growth of this category of workers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study clarifies the conceptual framework of the new division of labor, in the information age. The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Information and Decision Support Center websites provided secondary data for this study. These data are used to assess the size of “the information have less” in Egypt.

Findings

The division of work and class, in the 21st century, depends on the level of skills possessed to work with ICTs. So, class and labor nowadays could be divided into self-programmable labor (Innovators). Information have-less labor class, adding value to the economy by learning skills and presenting repetitive work. Generic labor class, who cannot work with ICTs, and work in jobs, that do not need computers or other ICTs. The study has shown that the “information have-less” labor class is present in Egypt since the beginning of the 21st century, in all its categories; entrepreneurism, the service sector and the manufacturing sector. There are approximately 50% of this labor class in the service sector and only 13% of the information have-less works in manufacturing sector despite the great opportunities that Egypt has to expand manufacturing to absorb more employment. The inclusion of information technology (IT), in all domains, has not decreased employment in Western countries but has reallocated information have-less employment toward the service sector, and there would probably be the same effect in Egypt.

Practical implications

The study highlights the need for Egyptian policymakers to encourage the manufacturing and service sectors to provide huge working opportunities. The Egyptian government has to change the educational policies, at all stages, to include digital learning skills so IT can be incorporated in a wide range of economic activities. Further research includes: conducting a survey to measure the contribution of the entrepreneurial part of the information have-less employment in Egypt. In addition, a model may be developed, by the researcher to examine the reallocation of employees in Egypt.

Originality/value

Studying employment, in Egypt, using the conceptual framework of the information age is rarely being done.

Details

Review of Economics and Political Science, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2356-9980

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 July 2022

Ruchika Jain, Naval Garg and Shikha N. Khera

With the increase in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision-making, organizations are facilitating human–AI collaboration. This collaboration can occur in a…

1624

Abstract

Purpose

With the increase in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision-making, organizations are facilitating human–AI collaboration. This collaboration can occur in a variety of configurations with the division of labor, with differences in the nature of interdependence being parallel or sequential, along with or without the presence of specialization. This study intends to explore the extent to which humans express comfort with different models human–AI collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

Situational response surveys were adopted to identify configurations where humans experience the greatest trust, role clarity and preferred feedback style. Regression analysis was used to analyze the results.

Findings

Some configurations contribute to greater trust and role clarity with AI as a colleague. There is no configuration in which AI as a colleague produces lower trust than humans. At the same time, the human distrust in AI may be less about human vs AI and more about the division of labor in which human–AI work.

Practical implications

The study explores the extent to which humans express comfort with different models of an algorithm as partners. It focuses on work design and the division of labor between humans and AI. The finding of the study emphasizes the role of work design in human–AI collaboration. There is human–AI work design that should be avoided as they reduce trust. Organizations need to be cautious in considering the impact of design on building trust and gaining acceptance with technology.

Originality/value

The paper's originality lies in focusing on the design of collaboration rather than on performance of the team.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 52 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 December 2023

Hutao Yang

The integration of the digital economy and the real economy has been a key focus in promoting digital economic development. It denotes a comprehensive digital transformation of…

Abstract

Purpose

The integration of the digital economy and the real economy has been a key focus in promoting digital economic development. It denotes a comprehensive digital transformation of national economic activities regarding technological infrastructure and production modes, which is crucial for establishing a modern economic system, advancing industrial infrastructure and modernizing industrial chains.

Design/methodology/approach

Firstly, the study delves into the internal logic behind the emergence of the new development dynamic resulting from digital technology's evolution. Secondly, it explores the mechanism of mutual promotion and support between the new development dynamic and the digital economy based on China's shift in focus from international engagement to the domestic economy during different stages of industrialization. Subsequently, it analyzes the characteristics and critical factors of digital economy development and examines the macro-, meso- and micro-level constraints on these factors. Finally, the paper explores approaches to promoting digital economy development while constructing the new development dynamic and provides relevant policy suggestions.

Findings

The construction of the new development dynamic and the development of the digital economy are inextricably linked, and only by mutually reinforcing each other can they provide an inexhaustible impetus for China's high-quality economic development.

Originality/value

The new development dynamic and the digital economy development form an indivisible whole. The new development dynamic creates the necessary conditions for digital economy development and promotes the formation of digital production modes. In turn, the development of the digital economy should strive to improve the mainstay position of the domestic economy, enhance the synergy between the domestic economy and international engagement, upgrade value chains while improving the supply and the industrial chains in China and ensure a parallel increase in labor income alongside improved productivity.

Details

China Political Economy, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-1652

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 August 2023

Gloria Nancy Ríos and Laura Andrea Cristancho

Despite the great technological, economic, and social advances and the significant progress achieved by women from the last century until today, there is still a clear division…

Abstract

Despite the great technological, economic, and social advances and the significant progress achieved by women from the last century until today, there is still a clear division between men and women in the labor market: more women are working, but their salaries are lower, as are their positions and their possibility of full development is reduced.

The gender problem is global, which forces the business sector, as one of the main agents of the market, to build policies around gender equality and the recognition of women as agents who generate growth and economic and business development. In this sense, business projects that seek to reduce gender gaps also impact the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), because they increase opportunities for equity, freedom, and dignity, for men and women in equal conditions.

What are the challenges and opportunities in gender equity presented by economic analyses in Colombia in a Latin American context?

According to the question, a Latin American economic context of gender gaps is presented, from the perspective of socioeconomic inequality and poverty, sexual division of labor, patriarchal cultural patterns, and concentration of power. Similarly, the effects of the pandemic on women’s employment and income are reviewed. When talking about gender gaps and professional contribution to the economy, it is not only a solution to inequalities, it is analytically undoing this cultural conception to give it a new structure of dominance.

There is a lack of conversation about economics and gender because the analysis is found from a macroeconomic perspective when writing that regardless of who performs care work or domestic work can also question the assumptions of economic science that, by convention, in national accounts, it ignores the value of domestic work and almost always deals with scarcity, selfishness, and competition, and rarely of abundance, altruism, and cooperation.

It must be recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic gave importance to childcare for national economies in general and women’s economic participation in particular, which has stimulated a renewed interest in childcare policy in many countries that have implemented lockdowns, as well as women, who provided most of the unpaid care, not only did they lose income due to demands for care but also they struggled to access needs, with some reporting increased personal insecurity.

The economic crises of the last century reflected recessions that had a greater impact on the employment of men since they are usually employed in sectors where employment tends to be unstable or as the economy is called cyclical employment. However, in the crisis unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, given their particular conditions, it is women who are mainly affected.

Challenges and opportunities in terms of gender equity present economic analyses in Colombia in a Latin American context, in this context, it is reviewed: the national survey of time use and its findings; the incorporation of the care economy in the measurement of economic growth and poverty indicators by gender and its effects on improvements in the quality of life of the population and its impact on the economy.

Among the advantages of incorporating the gender perspective in the economic analysis, the following perspectives are analyzed:

  • The similarities of the experiences of the gender gap and its effect on the economy suggest that the response of public policies of recovery and preparedness with the corresponding recognition, women absorb the costs of care work, with possible long-term negative effects on health, and well-being.

  • A greater stimulus to growth, as women bring new skills to work, productivity, and growth gains from greater female participation in the labor force. And, greater productivity and reducing gender barriers.

The similarities of the experiences of the gender gap and its effect on the economy suggest that the response of public policies of recovery and preparedness with the corresponding recognition, women absorb the costs of care work, with possible long-term negative effects on health, and well-being.

A greater stimulus to growth, as women bring new skills to work, productivity, and growth gains from greater female participation in the labor force. And, greater productivity and reducing gender barriers.

Details

Economy, Gender and Academy: A Pending Conversation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-998-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2023

İlkay Baliç

This article tackles the intersection of mothering and labor through the author's own experience as a feminist mother/manager from Istanbul, Turkey. It aims to revisit the first…

Abstract

Purpose

This article tackles the intersection of mothering and labor through the author's own experience as a feminist mother/manager from Istanbul, Turkey. It aims to revisit the first years of motherhood, exploring the struggle to invent a peculiar maternal subjectivity in opposition and negotiation with the patriarchal institution of motherhood, the new definition of maternal labor in a highly digital, neoliberal context and the issue of marital fairness in a dual-income heterosexual marriage.

Design/methodology/approach

The article presents an autoethnographic, retrospective and introspective inquiry into the first seven years of the author's mothering experience in order to offer an in-depth exploration of the various aspects of contemporary maternal labor.

Findings

The article shows how maternal labor has shifted in nature and expanded in scope in a contemporary non-Western context. It investigates the dissolution of the spatial, temporal and sensorial boundaries between the managerial labor dedicated to the workplace, and to the family. Highlighting the similarities of the two forms of labor, the article manifests the materiality, tangibility and visibility of maternal labor.

Research limitations/implications

Further intersectional studies shall be beneficial to redefine maternal labor in different contexts.

Practical implications

Departing and diverting from the terms “invisible labor” and “mental load”, the article suggests a shift in terminology to stress the multifaceted medley of managerial tasks mothers undertake today.

Originality/value

The article provides an original take on maternal labor through the first-hand experience of a middle-class, professional mother from Istanbul, Turkey.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 February 2024

Maria Pia Paganelli

Is there a secret recipe for economic growth?

Abstract

Purpose

Is there a secret recipe for economic growth?

Design/methodology/approach

No, there is no recipe, but we can extrapolate some pieces of advice from Adam Smith.

Findings

An economy can leave behind its “dull” stagnant state and grow when its markets expand, when the productivity of its workers increases thanks to high compensations, which are seen as incentives to work harder and when lobbying and cronyism are kept at bay. Luck plays a role too, but these three ingredients are necessary, even if not sufficient, for an economy to grow and thus be “cheerful.”

Originality/value

These three aspects – expansion of market, liberal compensation of workers and lobbying – especially combined, have often been underestimated in Smith’s understanding of the possible sources of economic growth.

Details

EconomiA, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1517-7580

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2023

Julian Warner

The article extends the distinction of semantic from syntactic labour to comprehend all forms of mental labour. It answers a critique from de Fremery and Buckland, which required…

Abstract

Purpose

The article extends the distinction of semantic from syntactic labour to comprehend all forms of mental labour. It answers a critique from de Fremery and Buckland, which required envisaging mental labour as a differentiated spectrum.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a discursive approach. It first reviews the significance and extensive diffusion of the distinction of semantic from syntactic labour. Second, it integrates semantic and syntactic labour along a vertical dimension within mental labour, indicating analogies in principle with, and differences in application from, the inherited distinction of intellectual from clerical labour. Third, it develops semantic labour to the very highest level, on a consistent principle of differentiation from syntactic labour. Finally, it reintegrates the understanding developed of semantic labour with syntactic labour, confirming that they can fully and informatively occupy mental labour.

Findings

The article further validates the distinction of semantic from syntactic labour. It enables to address Norbert Wiener's classic challenge of appropriately distributing activity between human and computer.

Research limitations/implications

The article transforms work in progress into knowledge for diffusion.

Practical implications

It has practical implications for determining what tasks to delegate to computational technology.

Social implications

The paper has social implications for the understanding of appropriate human and machine computational tasks and our own distinctive humanness.

Originality/value

The paper is highly original. Although based on preceding research, from the late 20th century, it is the first separately published full account of semantic and syntactic labour.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 July 2023

Seonwoo Yoon and Nara Park

This paper aims to overcome the limitations of studies on work-life balance, which have focused on Western countries without considering “mental” dimensions of gendered childcare…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to overcome the limitations of studies on work-life balance, which have focused on Western countries without considering “mental” dimensions of gendered childcare. By concentrating on South Korea as a case study, this paper also aims to examine how the gendered division of childcare changed when Korea's work-life/family policy followed European work-family conciliation policy.

Design/methodology/approach

The Korean Time Use Survey (KTUS) in 2009 and 2019 are used for multiple regression analyses. Based on discussions about theories on unpaid work distribution within households and its stratification effects, this study examines the relationship between wife's and husband's behaviors and the stratification effects in the gendered division of childcare alongside the work-life/family policy change.

Findings

Substantial findings indicate the necessity of strengthening various legal and institutional structures that might increase husbands' characteristics of caring masculinities. Additionally, while policies developed to support flexible working arrangements, low-income women at risk of being trapped in dual poverty of time and income should be carefully considered.

Originality/value

This study focuses especially on South Korea, thereby contributing to understanding how national policy and gendered distribution of childcare are related. Notably, this link has not been widely discussed in the literature on work-life balance. It also suggests viable directions for future policies depending on gender and socioeconomic status.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 44 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000