ABSTRACT
This chapter examines several theories which offered a framework within which to understand the dynamics of the household. It suggests that, although flawed, the new home economic theory (NHE) was best of the three because it conceptualised domestic work as productive activity and specified the actual process through which everyday life is accomplished and work distributed in the household. The chapter presents a selection of models derived from the NHE theory of such as Gary Becker and A. Schutz to see if they can explain division of domestic work in a sample of households drawn from the Social Change in Economic Life Initiative survey. It examines whether the theory's assumption of maximisation is adequate in empirical practice before going on to augment the basic theory with the more sociologically oriented hypotheses. The household could invest in technology to replace the labour power of the female partner.
