Egalitarian Division Research Articles

Challenging Gender Roles during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Employed Palestinian-Arab Mothers in Israel

AbstractDuring the economic lockdown following the outbreak of COVID-19, the demand for unpaid work at home increased. Drawing on gender theory and the time availability explanation, this article explores the way changes in family and work arrangements altered the division of housework and care work in a highly gendered society; Palestinian-Arab dual-earner families in Israel. In-depth interviews with 28 Palestinian-Arab women were conducted to explore the social forces underlying the gendered aspects of family-work arrangements in Palestinian-Arab families in Israel during the pandemic. The findings provide evidence that both undoing and doing gender are observed, with the latter prevailing, leading to an intensification of gender inequalities. This suggests that changes in time availability do not guarantee an egalitarian division of unpaid work because cultural models are the main drivers, emphasizing the cultural context’s importance in understanding the way families arrange their household demands.

Keeping African women in social reproduction roles: a systematic qualitative review of literature on post-FTLRP Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT The capitalist sytem has been underwritten by unpaid social reproduction labour mostly provided by women. This article deploys social reproduction theory (SRT) to systematically review scholarly literature on Zimbabwe's fast track land reform programme (FTLRP) published since 2011. Research evidence indicates reasonable improvement on women's access to and control of land, but whether or not FTLPRP led to a more egalitarian division of social reproduction labour remains to be researched. The paper concludes by proposing a new research agenda on the shifting boundaries between workplace and home, paid and unpaid labour, for women on post-FTLRP farms.

Equality in household labor allocation among married and cohabiting individuals in Italy: the role of unions history

This study focuses on the allocation of household labor in Italy, finely differentiating between various forms of married and unmarried cohabiting unions. Specifically, currently married and cohabiting individuals are differentiated on the basis of the type of their first union. We employ data on individuals’ partnership histories from the 2016 “Families and Social Subjects” survey, which allows us to consider the role of previous (marital or non-marital) unions and, for currently or previously married individuals, whether or not they cohabited before marriage. A composite index measuring gender equality in household labor allocation is constructed based on different domestic tasks, weighting each task according to how time consuming the associated activity is. Results highlight the importance of considering the first union to explain the division of household labor even within later relationships. In particular, for men, cohabitation does not, as one might expect, mean a more egalitarian division of labor, once selection factors are taken into account and independently from the type of previous relationships. However, considering activities by gender, some signals of a greater participation in female-typed tasks are observed for married and cohabitating men who experienced previous (premarital) cohabitations. For women, instead, cohabitation implies a more egalitarian way to share household labor, if it is a first union or in any situation for which it was the first approach to life as a couple. Cohabitation does not imply a more egalitarian division of labor for women if their first union was a marriage. These differences in household labor allocation for women mainly follow from those observed in female-typed tasks, whereas couple differences in male-typed activities are weaker.

Changing Attitudes? Investigating the Link between Couples’ Pandemic Behavior, Cognitive Dissonance, and Gender Role Attitudes in Germany

Abstract Research found that not only macro-level processes like cohort replacements foster gender role attitude (GRA) change, but also life events and changes in lived realities. Framing the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘natural experiment’ allows to reduce endogeneity when examining the association between emerging cognitive dissonance and GRA change. Estimating asymmetrical fixed effects regressions, I investigate the influence of changes in the division of family labor on GRAs for respondents with no pre-pandemic attitude-behavior discrepancy, using pairfam waves 11 and 13. Indeed, changes in behavior for respondents who had aligned behaviors and attitudes before the pandemic can be associated with GRA adaptation: A change toward an egalitarian division of family labor during the pandemic can be associated with more egalitarian GRAs. Likewise, a change toward an inegalitarian division can be associated with less egalitarian GRAs. These findings support the usefulness of cognitive dissonance as one explanatory mechanism for intra-individual attitudinal change.

Support for redistribution is shaped by motives of egalitarian division and coercive redistribution

Support for redistribution is shaped by motives of egalitarian division and coercive redistribution

A Case of Sticky Gender? Persistence and Change in the Division of Household Labor during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Contemporary research finds that gender continues to provide an organizing framework for couples’ allocation of household labor. To explain this outcome, scholars focus on how structural arrangements and cultural beliefs contribute to the persistence of gender inequality in domestic labor. Yet scholarship has yet to fully clarify what combination of cultural and structural factors create persistent gender inequality in household labor. We use the COVID-19 pandemic as a naturally occurring event in which arrangements for childcare and work were upended, making it possible for many to rethink their household arrangements. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 81 respondents in heterosexual dual-earner couples, we examine how change in structural arrangements allowed some couples to develop a more egalitarian division of domestic labor. We also examine why an unequal division of labor persisted for most couples even amid the dramatic changes in their work and childcare arrangements and, for some, a strong desire to do so. We theorize that, taken alone, neither cultural attitudes nor shifts in the organization of work are sufficient to remove the stickiness of gender inequality in household work. Instead, structural change offers the possibility to change behavior, but only if cultural beliefs exist that make such change desirable.

Parental burnout, coparenting, and internalized sexual stigma during COVID-19 in parents with minoritized sexual identities.

The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a model of stressful situations for parents insofar as it led to unprecedented difficulties in childcare and caregiving, resulting in increased levels of parental burnout, worldwide. To date, research on parental burnout has mainly involved heterosexual parents. However, parents with minoritized sexual identities face partially different stressors, including internalized sexual stigma, and they also have partially different resources, including a more egalitarian division of childcare labor. Between April 2020 and February 2021, 32 lesbian mother families by donor insemination (n = 64 lesbian mothers) and 28 gay father families by gestational surrogacy (n = 56 gay fathers), all with a child aged 6-10 years and living in Italy, were recruited. In each family, both parents self-rated their parental burnout, coparenting, and internalized sexual stigma. Multilevel modeling indicated that lesbian mothers reported greater parental burnout than gay fathers. Moreover, lower coparenting quality was associated with greater parental burnout. Finally, internalized sexual stigma had a significant both direct and interactive effect on parental burnout, with higher levels of internalized sexual stigma resulting in greater parental burnout, especially in gay fathers. Considering the sexual minority stress theory and the risks and resources balance theory, the results indicate the importance of preventing and treating parental burnout in lesbian and gay parents by focusing on their internalized sexual stigma and coparenting relationship. Also, incorporating the positive psychology framework in future research would help identify in these parents the resources deriving from their minoritized sexual identities to deal with parental burnout. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Default property rules for same-gender marriages: equivalence over equality?

Abstract More and more jurisdictions accept that marriage should be open for all couples, both different and same gender. While this identical application of marriage as an institution is not open for debate, differences between same-gender couples and different-gender couples may have some value as to the precise content of marital property rules. Existing research finds that same-gender couples better represent the modern-day relationship model of equal role distribution, as they pursue a more egalitarian division of household labour and a greater individualization of finances than different-gender couples. Nevertheless, marital property rules have exclusively been shaped by the perspective of and inequalities experienced by (traditional) different-gender couples. The resulting heteronormative rules impose a degree of solidarity and protection that same-gender couples may not desire or need. Through 12 interviews, we carry out a first step in exploring the patrimonial wishes and needs of same-gender couples. We find that multiple interviewees prefer more autonomy during their relationship, while there is a preference to share assets upon a break-up or divorce. Consequently, we argue that a separation-based regime with a participation in the assets accumulated during the relationships offers a more appropriate property regime for same-gender couples than a community-based regime. While additional research is essential, the current findings could already offer arguments in further refining the current default regime for all married couples.

Opportunity or Exploitation? A Longitudinal Dyadic Analysis of Flexible Working Arrangements and Gender Household Labor Inequality

Abstract It has been extensively debated over whether the rise of flexible working arrangements (FWAs) may be an “opportunity” for a more egalitarian gender division of household labor or reinforce the “exploitation” of women in the traditional gender division. Drawing on a linked-lives perspective, this study contributes to the literature by using longitudinal couple-level dyadic data in the UK (2010–2020) to examine how couple-level arrangements of flexible working affect within-couple inequality in time and different types of household labor. The results show that among heterosexual couples, women’s use of FWAs significantly intensifies their disproportionate share of housework and maintains their heavy childcare burden regardless of whether their husbands use FWAs. In contrast, men’s use of FWAs does not change the unequal gendered division of housework and childcare, even when their wives do not use any FWAs. These patterns of intensified gender inequalities are more pronounced in routine housework tasks (e.g., cooking, washing, and cleaning), and among the reduced hours and teleworking arrangements. Overall, rather than providing an “opportunity” for a more egalitarian division of household labor, the use of FWAs maintains or even exacerbates the “exploitation” of women under the existing traditional gender norms.

How to distribute the European regional development funds through a combination of egalitarian allocations: the constrained equal losses min

As Solís-Baltodano et al. (2021) figure out, almost a third of the total European Union budget was set aside for the Cohesion Policy during the 2014–2020 period. The distribution of this budget is made through three main structural and investment funds, trying to promote convergence in the level of development of EU countries. Specifically, the current approach, by analysing this situation as a claims problem (O’Neill, 1982), finds the claims solution that performs better than the others by reducing inequality and promoting convergence to a greater degree (the Constrained Equal Losses rule). Nonetheless, when using this egalitarian division of losses, regions may not receive any funds. This paper defines a new way to distribute the limited resources of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It proposes a compromise between the egalitarian approaches, i.e., a combination of the egalitarian division of the funds with an egalitarian division of the losses (what regions do not get). In doing so, the proposal applies the constrained equal losses solution while ensuring a minimum amount is allocated to each region (sustainable bound). Finally, the new solution is axiomatically analysed, and it is applied to the ERDF problem.

Neither backlash nor convergence: dynamics of intra-couple childcare division during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany

Using unique (bi)monthly panel data (IAB-HOPP) covering the immediate postlockdown period from June to August 2020, as well as the subsequent period up until the second lockdown in January/February 2021, we investigate opposing claims of widening/closing the gender gap in parental childcare during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany. We consider prepandemic division as a reference point and provide dynamics rather than snapshots. Our results suggest a slight initial shift toward a more egalitarian division that, however, faded out in subsequent months. Starting from a fairly “traditional” prepandemic childcare division, the lockdown stimulus was not nearly strong enough to level the playing field. Subgroup analysis differentiating between individual lockdown-specific work arrangements shows that the drivers of the observed shift were mothers with relatively intense labor market participation who cannot work from home. Fathers’ work arrangement instead did not play a significant role. We conclude that the shift emerged out of necessity rather than opportunity, which makes it likely to fade once the necessity vanishes. Further, a shift is observed only if fathers were to some extent involved in childcare prepandemic, which points to the crucial role of initial conditions.

What (wo)men want? Evidence from a factorial survey on preferred work hours in couples after childbirth

Abstract The division of labour remains persistently gendered, in particular among couples with children. Previous research shows that women’s lower economic resources are an important factor driving these inequalities, but because gender and (relative) earnings are highly correlated in male–female couples, their relative importance is difficult to disentangle with observational data. Using a factorial survey conducted among approximately 700 employed men and women of childbearing age in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, the contribution of relative earnings and gender in explaining work-care divisions in couples with children is disentangled. The results show that men and women do not differ in their preferences for their own work hours after childbirth, but both prefer the father to work more hours than the mother. Moreover, the combination of own and partners’ preferred hours shows that men and women in all three countries prefer a modified male-breadwinner model after childbirth in scenarios where the male partner earns more or partners have equal earnings. Preferences for egalitarian divisions of labour appear to be slightly stronger in men compared to women and respondents with more egalitarian views on care tasks show less gender-specialization.

The evolution of family policies and couples' housework division after childbirth in Germany, 1994–2019

AbstractObjectiveWe examine how the re‐traditionalization effect of childbirth on couples' division of housework has evolved over time as a result of major family policy change.BackgroundSupportive family policies are associated with a more egalitarian division of labor. However, it remains unclear how a country's transition from a modernized male breadwinner regime that supports maternal care to family policies that promote maternal employment and paternal caregiving change couples' gender‐typical division of housework in the long run.MethodWe use representative survey data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel (1994–2019, N = 14,648) and estimate the re‐traditionalization effect of childbirth on mothers' absolute and relative time‐use on housework over four policy periods with linear fixed‐effects regression models.ResultsAcross all periods, mothers took on larger absolute and relative levels of housework after childbirth, with a more pronounced and persistent gender‐typical division in West than in East Germany. However, mothers spent somewhat less absolute and relative time on housework in recent periods with stronger levels of de‐familiarizing and dual‐earner/dual‐carer policies than in earlier periods with policies supporting maternal caregiving.ConclusionWe find somewhat smaller and less persistent re‐traditionalization effects of childbirth in more supportive work–family policy periods. In sum, the small changes illustrate that even in contexts of enormous policy change, progress toward a less gender‐typical division of housework has been slow and rather small.

The in-group egalitarian Owen values

The in-group egalitarian Owen values

Does Online Dating Challenge Gendered Divisions of Household Labor?

Abstract Online dating has modified how people find and select partners. In addition to outcomes already observed (e.g., exogamy), we argue that by subverting normative dating scripts, online courtship practices may set the course for partnerships that display more egalitarian divisions of routine household labor. This may be particularly true for the married and for lower-educated women, who generally report the least egalitarian allocation of domestic work. Furthermore, we posit that the relationship between meeting context and household labor will be partially explained by the selectivity of those who search for partners online but also by mechanisms specific to online dating that allow for greater relationship quality. We use 2008–2019 German Family Panel (pairfam) data in random-effects regression models to predict sharing of routine housework among women in marital and cohabiting opposite-sex unions (N = 3305). We find that meeting online is associated with greater sharing of housework for married women with lower-education, and that the link is robust even after accounting for observed selection into online dating via entropy balancing weights. Contrary to expectations, partnership quality has no mediating effect. Much of the positive association remains unexplained, suggesting that the different ways men and women negotiate power in the dating phase in digital versus non-digital partner markets may indeed play a role in how gender is enacted later on.

Chivalry, Reading, and Women's Culture in Early Modern Spain: From Amadís de Gaula to Don Quixote

Chivalry, Reading, and Women's Culture in Early Modern Spain: From Amadís de Gaula to Don Quixote

Kinship, inter- and intraethnic social networks and refugees' division of housework

Objective: This article investigates the role of social connections - kin proximity, premigration friends, and exposure to intra- and interethnic contacts in the host country - in the division of routine housework in refugee couples in Germany. Background: Although social connections are established as an influential factor in the economic and societal integration of newcomers, the role of such connections for the household division of labor among immigrant couples is less understood. Method: Pooled OLS and fixed-effect models were applied to four waves of the longitudinal IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees (2016-2019) to study coupled refugees of working age (1,045 couples, 2,699 couple-years). Results: We find that social connections are significant to the gendered division of routine housework among refugee couples. In particular, networks consisting of new inter- and intraethnic contacts are more influential than those consisting of kins and premigration friends. Moreover, it appears that the kin and new coethnic contacts of the husband are negatively related to their involvement in housework in absolute hours and relative to their wives. Husbands' new contacts with Germans are positively related to their involvement in routine housework. In turn, wives’ contacts with Germans are not associated with a more egalitarian division of housework. Conclusion: Social networks may provide useful explanations for immigrants' domestic behavior, and they should be considered in setting up new policies that guide their integration.

“Because I saw my mother cooking”: the sociocultural process of learning and teaching domestic culinary skills of the Western Brazilian Amazonian women

This article describes and discusses the sociocultural process of learning and teaching women’s domestic culinary skills. Drawing on descriptive qualitative research, we conducted an in-depth analysis of semi-structured interviews with 16 cisgender women who cooked at home at least once a day and lived in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre state, Brazilian Western Amazon. Our results suggest that women develop their domestic cooking skills at different moments. In childhood, the women interviewed were taught by their maternal figures and learned the required culinary skills to prepare “Rainforest Foods,” traditional foods in their original places. In adulthood, female employers taught them the culinary skills needed to prepare “City food,” meals made with ingredients, tools, and cooking methods available in the urban area. Notably, the women interviewed also reported being taught by their husbands to cook foods that met their tastes and eating patterns. In contrast, women teach their sons and daughters culinary skills to develop their food autonomy and promote the egalitarian division of domestic culinary work. These findings are essential to understand the sociocultural process of learning and teaching domestic culinary skills among communities or membership groups who lived in forest or rural areas and migrated to urban centers.

Gender a změny v dělbě práce v domácnostech s dětmi v době pandemie covidu-19

The article ties in with the scholarship on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on gender equality. Based on a qualitative analysis of interviews with parents of children under 12, we examine the processes that led to the increase or dismantling of the gender division of labour in families during the first nationwide lockdown. Using the concepts of path dependency and 'doing' and 'undoing' gender, we explain the strategies couples with children used to adapt to the enormous increase in reproductive work in the family during lockdown. 'Doing gender' practices witnessed during lockdown included an acceptance of the increased care work as the responsibility of women, ensuring 'a room of one's own' only for men, and separating the public and private sphere only for men. Practices that led to 'undoing gender' involved mainly the explicit negotiation between partners of the division of labour during the lockdown and the organisation of reproductive work in 'shifts'. The division of labour within a couple before the pandemic proved to be crucial for what strategy they chose to adapt to the lockdown. According to our findings, extending the egalitarian division of labour has led to greater satisfaction among partners and indicates greater societal resilience to crises.

Flexible Working and the Division of Housework and Childcare: Examining Divisions across Arrangement and Occupational Lines

Using the UK Household Longitudinal Study we examine how flexible working is associated with the division of housework and childcare among dual-earner heterosexual couples with young children. Although flexible working may enable better work-family integration, it can also reinforce traditional divisions of domestic labour where women perform more housework and childcare. The degree to which this occurs may vary across arrangements due to differences in the flexibility and permeability of boundaries. We also expect occupational variations but in a paradoxical manner; the constraints and resources workers have may cause the associations to conflict with assumptions based on gender role attitudes. Results show that arrangements that allow more boundary blurring, such as homeworking, are associated with more traditional divisions of childcare but not necessarily of housework. Flexitime, especially for the lower-skilled/paid occupations, enables a more egalitarian division of labour, possibly because it is used to maximise households’ working hours and income.