Husbands at Home: The Domestic Economy in a Post-Industrial Society

First Published in 1990, Husbands at Home gives a clear picture of the relationship between the domestic and the formal economy. Who does the housework when men become unemployed? Is a true reversal of gender roles possible? Jane Wheelock discovered, despite sociologists’ expectations, that most men are willing to share domestic labour with their (still working) female partners.

Wheelock uses her research among families in North East England, an area of acute unemployment in traditional mal...