Exploring men’s changing roles in domestic unpaid work

Abstract

The first half of the 21^st century has seen a sharp increase in interest by scholars regarding fathers’ involvement with housework and, especially, caring activities. This interest appears to be in direct response to an ideological change in the way good fatherhood is defined, such that it now includes care work. Past studies found that childcare in th efamily was assumed to be the sole responsibility of mothers. However, changes in the political economy in various countries have pushed women into paid work and this is gradually changing the meaning of fatherhood to include childcare. This is gradually making fathers assume a more nurturing role. Although this appears to be the case, this study argues that the ideas men have about domestic and caring activities influence their actual involvement in these activities. The data for the study was obtained qualitatively from 20 respondents who were husbands, fathers and career men. The data demonstrate that the majority of the men still hold onto the sexual division of work in the family. Irrespective of this, reasonable numbers of men in this study are actively involved with either caring work or both caring and domestic activities. Another finding emerging from the ideas and actions on domestic and caring activities identified three types of men in this study. Conceptualising this typology of men encourages us to appreciate the advancement being made in Ghana about getting men to take an active role in domestic work.