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Title: Doing the Dirty Work: Gender, Race, and Reproductive Labor in Historical Perspective

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2007

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Abstract: The concept of reproductive labor is central to an analysis of gender inequality, including understanding the devaluation of cleaning, cooking, child care, and other "women's work" in the paid labor force. This article presents historical census data that detail transformations of paid reproductive labor during the twentieth century. Changes in the organization of cooking and cleaning tasks in the paid labor market have led to shifts in the demographics of rovorkers engaged in these tasks. As the context for cleaning and cooking work shifted front the dominance of private household servants to include more institutional forms, the gender balance of this reproductive labor workforce has been transformed, while racial-ethnic hierarchies have remained entrenched. This article highlights the challenges to understanding occupational.segregation and the devaluation of reproductive labor in a way that analyzes gender and race-ethnicity in an intersectional way and integrates cultural and structural explanations of occupational degradation.

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Authors: Duffy, Mignon

Conference Name: 4th Carework Conference

Publisher Location: San Francisco, CA

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity

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