Recent Changes in Gendered Norms and the Division of Labor within Households in the Philippines

Joy Arguillas, University of the Philippines
Florio O. Arguillas, Cornell University
Lindy Williams, Cornell University

The literature on the gendered division of labor suggests that in many contexts husbands are increasingly performing household tasks, but that a gender gap remains. To date, we have fairly limited knowledge about current dynamics of task allocation in Filipino households, at least on a national scale. Filipino households have largely conformed to the norm that a male breadwinner is preferred, and women preside over domestic affairs. With substantial overseas labor migration of men and increasingly of women, things appear to be changing. Case studies suggest that the rise in Filipino households with women engaged in overseas work has allowed a reconfiguration of roles within the home. Men appear to have begun engaging in housework, often to a degree that previously would have been highly stigmatized. How generalized are these changes? We use national level data from 1994, 2002 and 2012 to examine this question in the Philippines.