Interracial Unions and Division of Housework in Brazilian Households

• In Event: 3523 - Family Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 6: Household Division of Labor

Abstract

Using the case of Brazil, this paper explores the division of housework in inter-race and same-race
unions, examining if racial minority women in interracial unions do a higher share of housework
within their households. While a robust scholarship investigates what drives the formation of
interracial unions and particularly the role of education and other forms of social economic status
in these unions, we still know little about family dynamics taking place within these relationships.
Using the Brazilian Nacional Household Sample Survey (PNAD), the main household survey for
Brazil, and Poisson regressions, the article estimates the association between women’s race and
division of housework in interracial and homogamous unions. Findings indicate that Brown and
Black women in interracial families do a higher share of housework while White women do a
lesser portion. As division of housework can provide substantial insights into the status processes
occurring in intimate relationships, these results suggest that families also reproduce racial
hierarchies

Author

• Carolina Aragao, University of Texas at Austin