Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The main aims of the study were to link households, forms of labour which they deploy in getting work done and the sources of labour outside the household on which they draw to provide them with various services. These distinctive patterns of work are called household work strategies which, in turn, are linked to the domestic division of labour and broader patterns of social and political behaviour. An associated qualitative dataset, The Social and Political Implications of Household Work Strategies, is available via Qualidata at the University of Essex.

Main Topics:

Variables Variables associated with housing career of household; employment history of respondent; socio-economic group of respondent (and partner if present) collapsed into household class; life-cycle characteristics, size and composition of household; number of earners in the household; respondent's income, household income; economic activity of both respondent, partner and other earner; new variables constructed from information relating to who did 41 tasks in and around the dwelling (scales of work). Additional topics covered: Political attitudes, attitudes to the Welfare State, voting behaviour, unused skills; periods of unemployment and ways of finding employment; kinship links in the area. Measurement Scales Household self-provisioning scale (PROSCALE) Informal sources of labour scale (IRSSCALE) Formal sources of labour scale (FRSSCALE) Questions on the Welfare State replicate those used by P. Taylor-Gooby in <i>Attitudes to the Role of the State in Welfare</i> - see study number 1634.

Simple random sample

1 in 9 random sample of households from the electoral registers for each of the 18 polling district

Face-to-face interview