“Stop it! - They are old enough to make their flaming beds!”: The Division of Household Labor by Lesbian Families Residing in the Northeast of England.

The premise of this paper is that there is still more to be known regarding the micro components playing a part in the day-to-day handling of household labour amongst lesbian families. The primary goals of the paper are: to explore the nature of the household division of labour in same-sex households and to investigate the factors in same-sex families which determine who is responsible for household chores. Ten sets of lesbian families located in any of the 26 council wards of the English city of Newcastle upon Tyne were interviewed face-to-face, both partners at the same time. Firstly, the preliminary research findings include the impact and importance of the children's age; and 'childcare continuation'. Secondly, in the planning of, and the actual household execution of household labour, class and 'class ambivalence', family background, non-/biological mothers' negotiation, family/relatives influence and external (community) expectation emerged as dominant points of differences amongst the participants.