Gendered Family Leave Policies and Couples' Division of Housework

• In Event: 381 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 10. Work and Family: Session II

Abstract

Although the gender gap has decreased in recent decades, women continue to do disproportionately more housework than men. Explanations for continued inequality in the division of housework include women’s greater time availability, women's lower bargaining power, and partners’ enactment of sex-typed role behavior. These perspectives do not adequately explain why the transition to parenthood exacerbates housework inequalities and why the magnitude of inequalities differs across countries. Because the recalibration of couples' division of housework is likely to take place in the weeks immediately following childbirth while one or both partners are on leave, it is likely that long-term patterns in the division of housework are shaped by the generosity of family leave policies. This idea is supported by previous research suggesting that shorter maternity leave and more generous paternity leave is associated with partners’ more equal sharing of housework. The present study used a multilevel approach to examine the difference between maternity and paternity leave generosity in 40 countries and how this difference was related to couples' division of housework. Preliminary results indicated that the generosity of maternity relative to paternity leave was positively associated with inequality in couples' division of housework (i.e., mothers did more than fathers). Specifically, mothers did more housework relative to fathers in countries with a wider gap between maternity and paternity leave generosity than in countries where the gap in generosity was smaller. Findings suggest that narrowing the gap between maternity and paternity leave generosity may facilitate a more equal division of housework between partners.

Authors

• Natalie D Hengstebeck, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

• Heather Helms, University of North Carolina-Greensboro