Acculturation and Nothing More? Generational Differences in Housework among Partnered Hispanic-origin Women and Men

• In Event: 2384 - Section on International Migration Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 10. Gender and the Household

Abstract

Using the 2006-2016 American Time Use Survey this study asks: a) Does housework vary by generational status among Hispanic men (N=4,082) and women (N=4,725) b) Does the gender gap in housework among Hispanics narrow with greater social integration? c) How do acculturation, time constraints and relative resources relate to housework? d) How do generational differences in acculturation, time constraints and relative resources produce generational differences in housework? Findings reveal that gender differences in housework decrease with greater acculturation. The closing of the gender gap occurs because more assimilated Hispanic women spend less time doing household labor than their less integrated peers, as there are no generational differences in housework among men. More importantly, time constraints and relative resources explain much of the generational differences in housework among women. Overemphasis on cultural explanations commonly used to understand housework patterns among Hispanics ignores relevant alternative structural explanations.

Author

• Susana M. Quiros, Pennsylvania State University