Housework Allocation Research Articles

The Analysis of Residents' Intention to Consume Pre-Made Dishes in China: A Grounded Theory.

The demand for pre-made dishes has increased in China. However, a detailed understanding of residents' intention to consume pre-made dishes is lacking in the existing studies. This research aims to investigate the consumer motives and intention to consume pre-made dishes. Through in-depth interviews and analysis, this research explores the factors influencing the residents' intention along the research steps of grounded theory. Fifty-one residents participated in semi-structured interviews via face-to-face or online interviews. Three motives for purchasing pre-made dishes were attitude, subjective norm, and perceived control. These were influenced by external factors, including environmental features and product features. Subjective characteristics are pre-existing characteristics of individuals themselves, including cooking skills, food skills, housework allocation, and eating attitudes, which play a moderating role in the relationship between external factors and consumer motives. Based on the six major categories, this study built a model of the formation mechanism of the consumer intention to consume pre-made dishes. It revealed the psychological attribution of residents' consumption of pre-made dishes. The finding of this study contributes to the understanding of the internal logic of PMDs' consumer intention formation. It would be a guide for researchers to map out appropriate business development strategies, and provide evidence for the government in formulating management policies.

Housework and earnings: intrahousehold evidence from Latin America

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the intrahousehold allocation of housework and paid work in five Latin American countries. Prior work has consistently shown that income plays a major role in the region’s large gender gaps in the distribution of unpaid work at the aggregate level. However, the extent to which earnings shape intrahousehold decisions regarding the allocation of unpaid work remains unexplored. Using harmonized time-use surveys for Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay, we analyze the relationship between earnings and housework drawing on the framework of the dependency, gender deviance neutralization, and autonomy. We find that in Latin America, increases in women's absolute earnings are related to decreases in the hours women devote to housework. At the same time, the allocation of men’s time into housework does not seem to be related to their own or their partners’ earnings. Against our expectations, differences in contextual gender inequality across countries does not seem to be relevant. These findings help us assess how well existing theories, formulated to account for phenomena of the developed world, apply to more unequal contexts that have higher levels of gender inequality and where a high proportion of women are excluded from paid work.

The Allocation of Housework in Same- and Different-Sex Partnerships: Recent Evidence from the U.S

Research on the division of housework among same-sex partners is limited. This is because gender-cultural theories – which emphasize the significance of gender identity and motivate many studies on the topic – are implicitly assumed to be less relevant in this case. Attending to admonitions that the division of housework in same-sex households is not free from gendering processes and practices, in this study we use the high-quality data of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS; 2003-2019), to compare the association between housework and relative earnings across partnership types. Since gender-cultural theories are based on the performance of gender identity by different-sex partners, we utilize the differences between same- and different-sex partners to better understand the effect of gender-cultural determinants on the division of housework. Our comparison of the relation across partnership-types validates the power of gender-cultural mechanisms in different-sex partners, provides a better assessment of the differences in housework patterns between different types of households, and serves as a novel quantitative test of gender-cultural mechanisms in same-sex partners.

How do spouses’ levels of ambivalent sexism predict allocations of household chores? Probing why women still perform most of the work in the U.S.

This study’s main objective was to examine whether, in a U.S. sample, ambivalent sexism would show stronger associations with heterosexual husbands and wives’ housework division (hours and proportion) than have previous gender-ideology measures. Unlike earlier conceptions of sexism emphasizing hostile and negative stereotypical views toward women, ambivalent sexism combines the two dimensions of hostile sexism and benevolent sexism (seemingly positive views and behaviors toward women that nevertheless convey underlying paternalistic and patronizing motivations). We hypothesized that male and female respondents high in both hostile and benevolent sexism would report the typical pattern of wives’ housework exceeding their husbands’, whereas those lower in hostile or benevolent sexism would report less housework being performed by wives. Married individuals (N = 249) were recruited via advertisements on Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) platform and announcements at a university to complete an online survey. Several variables were measured, including own and spouse’s housework hours, hostile and benevolent sexism, and demographic control variables previously associated with housework allocation. An interaction emerged for women, in which those high in benevolent, but low in hostile, sexism reported performing the highest proportion of housework, whereas those low in both forms of sexism performed the lowest proportion. These results provided full or partial support for different aspects of our hypotheses. Men reported greater housework (hours and proportion) the more hours their wife worked outside the house. Discussion examines implications for ambivalent sexism theory, housework sharing, and conceptions of sexism.

Gendering distance, gendered housework: examining the gendered power dynamics through housework allocation in Taiwanese homes

Numerous studies examine the power relations between the heterosexual couple through their time spent on domestic chores and which chore they do. They find that women tend to spend more time on housework than men, and some domestic chores, such as cooking, are regarded as women’s duty. While the investigation into household chores has broadened its cultural and ethnic scope, it still focuses on nuclear families without considering the influence of the couple’s extended family members and overlooks other household types, such as multigenerational households. By examining Taiwanese married heterosexual couples’ living and housework arrangements through semi-structured interviews, I find that the distance between the households of the couple and their parents-in-law influences the way the couple share housework. While women still tend to take greater responsibilities in household chores, forming a nuclear family far away from the husband’s parents gives the couple opportunities to negotiate housework and share it more equally. On the other hand, female family members share and trade domestic chores, and husbands are excused from most of the chores when the couple live with the parents of either side. My study suggests that couples’ living arrangements and their relationships with extended family members should be considered in the examination of spousal power dynamics, especially in cultures where the older generation is highly respected. Further studies on the power relations between family members, particularly between the couple and their parents, in various living arrangements are recommended for better understanding of family gender relations. Supplemental data for this article is available online at at http://doi:10.1080/0966369X.2021.1974355.

Women’s pre-marriage income and the division of household labour

ABSTRACT This study investigates the effects of women’s economic resources on the division of household labour by employing pre-marriage income as a proxy for resources, rather than post-marriage income. Post-marriage income has been substantially used in the literature; however, it would be the consequence rather than the cause of spousal labour division. Since many married women reduce their working hours to focus on household tasks and their income decreases after marriage, the reverse causality could overestimate the economic power effect on housework allocation. Based on pre-marriage income data of South Korean households, the present study shows that women’s high relative income does not significantly decrease their time and share of housework. Furthermore, wives’ economic superiority after marriage over the husbands seems to increase their household labour because the wives intend to restore gender identity. In conclusion, traditional gender norms have a greater influence on the division of housework than economic efficiency. Therefore, policy efforts must encourage couples to share their housework equally, such as gender-neutral education and paternity protection system.

Mothers', Fathers' and Siblings' Housework Time Within Family Households

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate time use of housework for all members of family households, especially focusing on how time allocation varied by siblings' gender composition.BackgroundThree knowledge gaps were addressed: the allocation of housework time between all family members; children's contributions to housework, focusing on the relevance of sibling structure; and the differences in time allocation of housework by parental education within family households. The study contributes to the understanding of the family as the primary socialization environment and the foundations of gender inequality of unpaid work time in the life course and in society.Methods478 four‐person households were sampled from the German Time Use Study from 2001/2002 and 2012/2013. Using information from 3,743 time diaries, absolute and relative time use for total housework on Mondays through Fridays was analyzed according to siblings' gender composition, applying linear regression.ResultsMothers and daughters spent more time on housework in shared family households than fathers and sons. Total housework time was lowest in households with two sons and highest in households with two daughters. Older daughters spent more time on housework than younger daughters, and sons with a sister spent more time on housework than sons with a brother, regardless of the birth order. Parents' education had no impact on the time allocation in this sample.ConclusionChildren's gender plays a role in their interaction with their parents, and both gender identity at the individual level and the dyadic gender compositions of families must be considered when explaining the household allocation of housework.

Gender role attitudes and the division of housework in young married couples in northern Vietnam

This article investigates the gender role attitudes and domestic division of labour of young couples in northern Vietnam. Based on separate interviews with 30 couples living in rural and urban areas, it explores young people's thoughts about the roles of a wife and a husband and how these translate into their allocation of housework. Analysis of the interviews indicates that the perceptions and expectations of young people remain influenced by traditional gender ideology, in that wives are still considered mainly responsible for housework. However, in practice, gender roles are highly flexible and demonstrate significant mutual support. In addition, the similarities or differences between spouses in terms of gender role attitudes contribute to levels of relative satisfaction regarding the current division of labour in households.

Cracking Under Pressure? Gender Role Attitudes Toward Maternal Employment in Times of a Pandemic

This paper studies the effects of Covid-19 related daycare and school closures on gender role attitudes toward maternal employment in Germany. We compare women and men with dependent children to those without children one year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Using data on gender role attitudes from 2008 through 2021, we find that fathers' egalitarian attitudes toward maternal employment dropped substantially in 2021. This drop is observed for men in West Germany, who showed a steady progression toward more egalitarian attitudes in the pre-pandemic period. Attitudes by women are not affected. These findings suggest that the pandemic not only affected the short-term allocation of housework and childcare, but also reversed recent trends toward more egalitarian gender roles.

Cracking Under Pressure? Gender Role Attitudes Toward Maternal Employment in Times of COVID-19 in Germany

This paper studies the effects of Covid-19 and related daycare and school closures during lockdowns on gender role attitudes toward maternal employment in Germany. Using data from 2008 through 2021, we study gender role attitudes of women and men with dependent children. First-difference and difference-in-differences estimates show that fathers' egalitarian attitudes toward maternal employment dropped substantially one year after the outbreak of the pandemic. This drop is observed for men in West Germany, who showed a steady progression toward more egalitarian attitudes in the pre-pandemic period. Attitudes by women are not affected. The drop in men’s attitudes is most pronounced for fathers of young children. These findings suggest that the pandemic not only affected the short-term allocation of housework and childcare, but also reverses previous changes in more egalitarian attitudes toward maternal employment in the short run.

Cracking under Pressure? Gender Role Attitudes toward Maternal Employment in Times of a Pandemic

This paper studies the effects of Covid-19 related daycare and school closures on gender role attitudes toward maternal employment in Germany. We compare women and men with dependent children to those without children one year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Using data on gender role attitudes from 2008 through 2021, we find that fathers’ egalitarian attitudes toward maternal employment dropped substantially in 2021. This drop is observed for men in West Germany, who showed a steady progression toward more egalitarian attitudes in the pre-pandemic period. Attitudes by women are not affected. These findings suggest that the pandemic not only affected the short-term allocation of housework and childcare, but also reversed recent trends toward more egalitarian gender roles.

Cracking Under Pressure? Gender Role Attitudes Toward Maternal Employment in Times of a Pandemic

This paper studies the effects of Covid-19 related daycare and school closures on gender role attitudes toward maternal employment in Germany. We compare women and men with dependent children to those without children one year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Using data on gender role attitudes from 2008 through 2021, we find that fathers’ egalitarian attitudes toward maternal employment dropped substantially in 2021. This drop is observed for men in West Germany, who showed a steady progression toward more egalitarian attitudes in the pre-pandemic period. Attitudes by women are not affected. These findings suggest that the pandemic not only affected the short-term allocation of housework and childcare, but also reversed recent trends toward more egalitarian gender roles.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Labor Market and Gender Inequality: Evidence from a Gig Economy Platform

Using data from a large online education platform with more than 100,000 gig workers, we investigate the causal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gig economy labor supply and quantify how much of the impact can be attributed to lockdown policies. The average labor supply on the gig economy platform increases by 25% during the pandemic. The impact is nationwide and is stronger in states with more confirmed cases of COVID-19. The impact of state-level shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders accounts for only 7%~16% of the overall impact of the pandemic, suggesting that simply lifting the lockdown policies without controlling the disease well is unlikely to get the economy back on track. We also evaluate how female and male workers respond differently. Although both female and male workers increase their labor supply, female workers' increase in labor supply is smaller than male workers', and consequently, the already existing gender gap in labor supply increases by 31%. The increase in gender gap is primarily driven by workers in their age of 30-50, implying that the increase in gender gap is likely to be caused by the school closures during the pandemic and the disproportionate allocation of housework and childcare responsibility across gender.

Threshold Levels for Disorder, Inequity in Household Labor, and Frustration with the Partner among Emerging Adult Couples: A Dyadic Examination

Young adults increasingly express a desire to create egalitarian romantic partnerships, yet numerous studies have shown that women generally continue to assume the lion’s share of housework. Building on previous work on threshold levels of tolerance for dirt and disorder, on housework allocation, and on perceived fairness, the current longitudinal study documented the pathway by which threshold levels for housework lead to feelings of frustration with the partner over a period of six months. Data from 176 cohabiting emerging adult couples were analyzed using path analysis. Results confirmed the proposed model of feelings of frustration with the partner. More precisely, romantic partners’ threshold levels were associated with their and their partners’ feelings of frustration through the division of housework and perceptions of fairness. Gender differences, empirical and practical implications, and future research directions are further discussed.

Empirical Analysis of the Chinese Social Economic Transformation and Housework Allocation

Empirical Analysis of the Chinese Social Economic Transformation and Housework Allocation

Spousal age gap and identity and their impact on the allocation of housework

This study investigates how spousal age gaps influence the allocation of housework between husbands and wives. Further, we consider the identity formed as a result of respondents’ family backgrounds by specifically exploring the effects of the age gaps between the respondents’ parents. We initially collect an individual-level panel dataset covering the periods before and after marriage, by monthly surveys of unmarried persons in the initial period prior to marriage, then the three-year period that follows. After controlling for individual- and time period-fixed effects, the key findings are as follows: (1) after marriage, women older than their husbands tend to become burdened with a larger amount of housework, and the spousal gap effect increases as the marriage duration increases; (2) women with mothers older than their fathers tend to assume a larger allocation of the housework as the marriage duration increases; and (3) the age gap hardly affects the men’s allocation of housework, although men with a full-time working mother at age 15 assume a larger allocation of housework as the marriage duration increases.

Gender imbalance in housework allocation: a question of time?

Using the 2002–2003 and 2009–2010 Spanish Time Use Surveys, this paper analyzes whether increases in nonworking time help dual-earner couples to reduce gender imbalance in housework allocation. Our empirical strategy exploits the fact that interviewed partners complete the survey on the same randomly assigned day, which may be a working day or a nonworking day for each spouse. This survey design allows us to compare the housework allocation decisions of dual-earner couples that are similar in key observable characteristics but differ in their work schedules during the interview day. We find that own nonworking days are associated with increases in men’s and women’s own contribution to housework and with decreases in the time their spouses spend on such activities. Yet the resulting imbalance in housework allocation differs depending on whether it is the wife or the husband with a day off. Thus, a husband’s nonworking day leads to an (almost) equal distribution of housework, whereas a wife’s nonworking day leads the partners to approach full specialization—with the wife performing most of the household tasks.

Multi-dimensional couple bargaining and housework allocation

Research on couple bargaining and housework allocation focuses almost exclusively on partners’ economic resources. In this study, we ask whether additional bargaining resources, namely physical appearance and social networks, may exert a distinct effect – that is, whether partners can mobilize multiple resources within their bargaining framework. A focus on multiple bargaining chips is made possible by the German Socio-Economic Panel Study. In line with previous research, we conclude that earnings potential is the most important bargaining chip. But we also find that physical attractiveness can make a significant difference, although its effects depend on age. We uncover no distinct effects for social networks.

What women want (their men to do): Housework and Satisfaction in Australian Households

ABSTRACTThe time allocated to household chores is substantial, with the burden falling disproportionately upon women. Social norms about how much housework men and women should do are likely to influence couples’ housework allocation decisions and satisfaction. Using Australian data spanning 2001–14, this study employs a two-stage estimation procedure to examine how deviations from housework norms relate to couples’ satisfaction. The study finds that satisfaction is negatively affected by predicted housework time and that women’s satisfaction, but not men’s, is robustly affected by their partners’ residual housework time. When he exceeds housework norms, she is happier with housework allocations, but less happy in broader dimensions. The study suggests several reasons for the results, including that housework is more salient in women’s lives than in men’s, that housework generally is not a preferred activity, and that some degree of gender-norm conformity in regard to housework can positively affect women’s life satisfaction.

Housework Allocation, Negotiation Strategies, and Relationship Satisfaction in Cohabiting Emerging Adult Heterosexual Couples

The purpose of the current study was twofold; first, to examine the association between equity and equality by comparing heterosexual romantic partners’ distribution of time as a function of their perceptions of equity and second, to investigate the antecedents of the housework negotiation process, its dyadic nature, and its influence on relationship satisfaction. Data from 204 newly cohabiting Canadian heterosexual couples indicated that men and women perceived inequity to self and equity to self, respectively, when the distribution of time was equal at home, yet men spent more time on paid work or academics than their partners did. Moreover, men and women perceived equity to self and inequity to self, respectively, when women did the bulk of the housework and men spent more time on paid work or academics than their partners did. Results also revealed that women’s personal contribution is linked to their relationship satisfaction through self-use of equity-restoring strategies when their partners’ use of equity-resisting strategies is high. For men, the conditional indirect effect of personal contribution on relationship satisfaction was significant when their attempts to restore equity were met with low resistance from their partners. Overall, our results highlight gender differences that could help raise awareness around issues of housework inequality and inform the development of educational programs for romantic partners who face ongoing challenges of housework allocation.