Family Negotiations: Gender, Paid Work and Carework in Chile

Abstract

Women’s entry into the labor market and important changes in family configurations have undermined the traditional organization of families, based on male providers and female caregivers. However, recent research suggests that this has not meant the end of these traditional, gendered patterns. This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of the reasons behind this phenomenon and how young couples, with and without children, face the challenge of making paid work and family compatible in the city of Talca (Chile). We focus on social representations on paid, domestic and care work and on the processes of negotiation associated to the distribution of related tasks – when such processes take place – that could explain their current domestic arrangements. Our results suggest that, despite declaring arrangements based on the equality principle, personal abilities o preferences, couples maintain highly gendered modes of organization, coupled with a progressive discourse.