Housework Participation and Fertility Intentions: Analysing the Gendered Division of Labour and Fertility in Taiwan

Abstract

If husbands do more housework, would it improve fertility intentions in Taiwan? Using the Taiwan Panel Study of Family Dynamics, the authors examine the association between heterosexual husbands’ housework participation on their own and wives’ fertility intentions, according to the expectations of the post-transitional (occurring after the Second Demographic Transition) reversal in fertility rates and the gender revolution framework. This analysis shows that the effects are evident among Taiwanese heterosexual women but not men, who appear to lag behind on the gender revolution. Overall results show that more involvement in housework from husbands increases the fertility intentions among wives but does not increase their own fertility intentions.