TWO-JOB COUPLES

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN THE CONCILIATION BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY

Abstract

The social constructions that established the roles that men and women play, assigning the public environment to them and the private environment to them, mean that domestic work is still reported to women, even when both perform paid activity. Based on the concepts of sexual division of labor and gender, this article seeks to identify the differences between middle-class men and women who work outside the home, in view of the need to reconcile work and family. To develop the study, a qualitative methodology was adopted, with semi-structured interviews with 22 couples, whose results were treated through content analysis. The results show that, among the interviewees, women are still the main responsible for domestic work, which generates work overload. Men, however, demonstrated more participation in these activities than was observed in previous generations. To different extents, both experience difficulties in reconciling work and family, developing different strategies to participate in the labor market. It was also observed that companies do not usually have formal support mechanisms for workers who need to submit to the double shift.