Should Women Do More Housework? Experimental Insights on Gender Norms, Stereotypes and Norms of Equality

• In Event: 2266 - Family Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 8. Gender and the Division of Household Labor

Abstract

Gender disparities in housework persist in the U.S. and Germany. In this article, we contrast the effects of gender norms with the effects of gender-neutral explanations, such as differences in men’s and women’s labor market resources. We also explore the validity of widely used item questions about gender norms. Drawing on a novel survey experiment allowed us to isolate the effects of norms from other, possible confounding factors. In 2017/18, 1,152 German residents participated in our experiments and evaluated more than 3,400 descriptions of hypothetical work-family scenarios. The labor market characteristics of the male and the female partner (i.e. earnings power and paid working hours), the division of housework, and family status were experimentally varied across all descriptions. In addition, we varied the amount of information to explore the validity of vague item questions. Our main finding is that the appropriate share of housework depends on gender-neutral factors like ‘monetary contributions’ and ‘time availability,’ while there is no evidence for gender specific evaluations: Equity norms seem to clearly trump gender norms. Also, our experiments suggest that prior research over-estimated the prevalence of gender norms. Disclosing too little information on individual’s labor market resources causes artificial measurements of normative gender beliefs.

Authors

• Katrin Auspurg, University of Munich

• Sabine Düval, LMU Munich