Partner Characteristics and Perceptions of Responsibility for Housework and Child Care

Abstract

Objective: This study examines how partner characteristics (i.e., relative income, gender, gender expression) causally affect perceptions of responsibility for housework and child care in heterosexual and same‐sex couples.Background: Although past research has frequently investigated how couples divide chores and child‐care tasks, few studies have examined Americans' normative beliefs about the division of household labor. This is an important oversight because partner characteristics are often correlated within individuals (e.g., heterosexual women are disproportionately lower earning), thus blurring how each characteristic causes a partner to be seen as responsible for tasks.Method: The authors conducted a nationally representative survey experiment (N = 1,025). Respondents were randomly assigned to a vignette condition describing either a heterosexual or same‐sex couple. After viewing the vignette, respondents were asked to assign chores and child‐care tasks based on partners' relative income, gender, and gender expression.Results: In same‐sex couples, partners' gender expression had moderate effects on respondents' chore and child‐care assignments. In heterosexual couples, however, the respondents relied overwhelmingly on gender differences to determine who should be doing household tasks. Relative income had little effect across sexual orientation groups, aside from dictating which partner should exit the workforce to become a stay‐at‐home parent.Conclusion: Gender is the primary factor that drives Americans' normative beliefs about housework and child care.