Who should do the housework? : Evidence from a factorial survey on the attitude towards sharing domestic labor in Germany ; Poster

Konferenzposter

Conference poster: Attitudes towards housework are important for a sociological explanation of the dynamics of the gender division of labor in couples. This study adds to the literature on gender ideology by providing a theoretically grounded and methodologically innovative empirical analysis of the attitude towards housework sharing. Using data from a factorial survey of 1120 German women and men, I show that both genders, with minimal differences between them, follow ideas of gender egalitarianism, resource exchange and equity when assessing housework responsibilities in couples. Equal sharing is the favored arrangement, particularly in situations of economic resource equality. Relatively higher employment entails less housework for women and men, and vice versa. Parenthood is marginally relevant for the assessment of relative housework participation. With the factorial survey, I introduce a novel approach of how to measure the attitude towards ‘Who should do the housework’ much more directly than any other study before.