Policy Press

Couples at Work

Negotiating Paid Employment, Housework and Childcare

By Emily Christopher

Published

1 Jun 2025

Page count

192 pages

Browse the series

Sociology of Children and Families

ISBN

978-1529224979

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press
This book offers a unique look into how couples manage paid employment, housework and childcare. The author explores how employment structures, policies and practices intersect with individual attitudes to either reinforce or challenge gender inequalities in the domestic sphere through the ‘doing’ and ‘undoing’ of gender.

Emily Christopher is lecturer in Sociology and Policy at Aston University.

1. Paid Employment and Domestic Divisions of Labour: An Introduction

2. Policies and Practices

3. Mothering and Paid Employment

4. Fathering and Paid Employment

5. Who Does the Childcare?

6. Who Does the Housework?

7. Conclusions