Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Perceptions of Fairness

In this article we examine the determinants of Black, Hispanic, and Anglo women\u27s and men\u27s views of the fairness of the division of housework. Using the 1987-1988 National Survey of Families and Households, we find that men\u27s proportional share of time spent on female-typed tasks affects both women\u27s and men\u27s views of how fairly housework is divided, although the effect is stronger for women. The frequency of arguments about housework also is positively associated with perceptions of fairness for both women and men, again with a stronger effect for women. Moreover, Black men are less likely to report that housework is divided unfairly than are Anglo men, suggesting that reference group comparisons among men by race and ethnicity may affect perceptions of family entitlement