This article reviews more than 200 scholarly articles and books on household labor published between 1989 and 1999. As a maturing area of study, this body of research has been concerned with understanding and documenting how housework is embedded in complex and shifting social processes relating to the well-being of families, the construction of gender, and the reproduction of society. Major theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions to the study of household labor are summarized, and suggestions for further research are offered. In summary, women have reduced and men have increased slightly their hourly contributions to housework. Although men's relative contributions have increased, women still do at least twice as much routine housework as men. Consistent predictors of sharing include both women's and men's employment, earnings, gender ideology, and life-course issues. More balanced divisions of housework are associated with women perceiving fairness, experiencing less depression, and enjoying higher marital satisfaction.

Research on household labor : Modeling and measuring the social embeddedness of routine family work

This article reviews research and interventions that have grown up around a model of psychological well-being generated more than two decades ago to address neglected aspects of positive functioning such as purposeful engagement in life, realization of personal talents and capacities, and enlightened self-knowledge. The conceptual origins of this formulation are revisited and scientific products emerging from 6 thematic areas are examined: (1) how well-being changes across adult development and later life; (2) what are the personality correlates of well-being; (3) how well-being is linked with experiences in family life; (4) how well-being relates to work and other community activities; (5) what are the connections between well-being and health, including biological risk factors, and (6) via clinical and intervention studies, how psychological well-being can be promoted for ever-greater segments of society. Together, these topics illustrate flourishing interest across diverse scientific disciplines in understanding adults as striving, meaning-making, proactive organisms who are actively negotiating the challenges of life. A take-home message is that increasing evidence supports the health protective features of psychological well-being in reducing risk for disease and promoting length of life. A recurrent and increasingly important theme is resilience - the capacity to maintain or regain well-being in the face of adversity. Implications for future research and practice are considered.

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Psychological well-being revisited: advances in the science and practice of eudaimonia.

Meta-analysis is used to synthesize findings from 286 empirical studies on the association of socioeconomic status (SES), social network, and competence with subjective well-being (SWB) in the elderly. All three aspects of life circumstances are positively associated with SWB. Income is correlated more strongly with well-being than is education. The quality of social contacts shows stronger associations with SWB than does the quantity of social contacts. Whereas having contact with friends is more strongly related to SWB than having contact with adult children, there are higher associations between life satisfaction and quality of contact with adult children when compared with quality of friendships. Moderating influences of gender and age on the effects of SES, social network, and competence on SWB are also investigated.

Influences of socioeconomic status, social network, and competence on subjective well-being in later life : A meta-analysis

The literature on fear of crime has grown rapidly in the last three decades. This paper examines the reasons for this growth and attempts to put some structure on the work to date. The inadequacies of measures of fear of crime are discussed and alternative approaches suggested. Alternative explanatory theories are compared and strategies for reducing fear reviewed.

Fear of crime: A review of the literature.

The Seasons of a Man’s Life

The Impact of Subjective Age and Stigma on Older Persons.

The Influence of Parent and Child Needs on Coresidence in Middle and Later Life.

As Old as You Feel: Age Identity in Middle and Later Life

Objectives. Despite the centrality of parent–adult child relations, prior research has found only weak associations with parent well-being. There is a need to give more explicit attention to the relations of parents with multiple children and to the potentially mixed or ‘‘ambivalent’’ nature of those relations. These patterns may differ for mothers and fathers. Methods. Wave 1 of the National Survey of Families and Households provided detailed information on relations between parents and each of their adult children. The sample included 2,270 persons aged 50þ who had at least one child aged 19þ. Results. Measures across multiple adult children uncovered more mixed patterns of ‘‘collective ambivalence’’ that included lesser quality and/or contact with at least some children. The presence of less positive relations with any children was consistently, albeit modestly, related to lower parent well-being. Mothers reported higher ‘‘maximum’’ quality and interaction across children, but mothers and father did not differ in ‘‘minimum’’ reports. Associations between parent– child relations and well-being were similar for mothers and fathers. Discussion. Analyses that incorporate the relations of parents with their multiple adult children, viewed as part of a family network, yield a more comprehensive and nuanced view of those relations and their implications for well-being.

Multiple Parent–Adult Child Relations and Well-Being in Middle and Later Life

Among other benefits of marriage, spouses are particularly well suited for providing sick or personal care due to proximity and motivation. Yet, spouse care may vary by gender: Women are less likely to be married, especially at older ages, and personal care may be associated with traditional gender expectations. Using data for a representative sample of middle-aged and older persons, this article poses two questions. First, who is expected, by married and unmarried men and women, to provide personal care? Second, how does the gender of the individual or of children structure expectations for care? For married persons, particularly in high-quality marriages, spouses are likely care providers. However, for women, spouse help is less reliably available, and other sources, particularly children, are more available. Unmarried persons are more likely to mention “no one” and have a wider variety of expected sources of sick care, but children are the modal choice.

Russell A. Ward

Papers

The Impact of Subjective Age and Stigma on Older Persons.

The Influence of Parent and Child Needs on Coresidence in Middle and Later Life.

As Old as You Feel: Age Identity in Middle and Later Life

Multiple Parent–Adult Child Relations and Well-Being in Middle and Later Life

Gender, Marriage, and Expectations for Personal Care