The influence of time, resource, and gender ideology on the division of domestic work in Korea

Abstract

AbstractThe paper examines how time availability, relative monetary contribution, and gender ideology are related to a couple's contribution to domestic work in South Korea, using data from the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families. OLS regressions with fixed effects indicate that couples' hours worked were significantly associated with their own and their spouse's time spent on domestic work. The wife's relative wage was another essential determinant in the division of domestic work between wife and husband. Although the wife's gender ideology was not a significant factor for her domestic work time, a husband whose wife had more gender‐equitable attitudes was more likely to devote time to domestic work. Going beyond earlier studies, we also present new evidence for gender display: the wife's relative wage had a curvilinear relationship with the couple's time spent on domestic work. The broader implications of the main findings are also discussed.