Urban segregation and the socio-spatial dimension of sexual division of labor

Abstract

Our prime goal in this article is to characterize and analyze the socio-spatial dimension of the sexual division of labor and its impacts on women’s daily lives. The academic literature on the sexual division of labor does not seem to give due attention to the way in which urban segregation impacts on women’s performance of productive and reproductive work. Combining a bibliographic review and empirical data from recent studies, the central argument is that this process affects women in particular, especially black and peripheral women. It seeks to demonstrate that these women, who as a rule live in the peripheral areas of cities as a result of urban segregation processes, spend much more time in their daily lives to perform both productive and reproductive work, especially because of the displacements they need to make.