Social norms and commuting-to-work time of straight and gay couples in Brazilian metropolitan areas

Abstract

We investigate gender differences in the time spent commuting to work in a sample of 69,173 dual-earner couples living in the Brazilian metropolitan areas, part of which are composed of partners of the same sex. We compare straight couples with same-sex couples since they are not subject to the same societal rules on the division of household chores between couple members. We observe that women in straight marriages present lower commuting times than their husbands, than men married to another man, and women married to another woman. Since we control for several individual characteristics, including the share of each spouse on the couple's income, we conclude that social norms negatively affect the mobility of heterosexual women. The results suggest that the social roles attributed to the feminine gender in a marriage affect women's ability to move around in space and limit their geographical scope of job choices.