Gender roles and the division of household labour by family type in three different welfare states

Absztrakt

This study examines patterns of gender roles and division of household labourin Hungary, France, and Sweden, representing three different welfare regimes. The gender revolution has significantly changed the distribution of household tasks, but these changes have occurred to different degrees across countries. The research aims to explore the patterns of household labour division and to investigate how attitudes towards gender roles and individual characteristics influence the distribution of household tasks. Particular attention is given to the differences between families with and without children.
Using cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regression models based on data from the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), we analyse the distribution of household tasks and the effects of individual factors and gender attitudes among partnered respondents aged 18–49.
The findings indicate that gender role attitudes in Sweden are more modern than in the other two countries, especially among women. Household tasks are also shared more equally in this social-democratic welfare state. In Hungary attitudes are the most traditional, while France lies between the other two countries.
In Sweden individual attitudes towards gender roles do not influence the daily division of household tasks, while in the other two countries they do: women and men with more modern views tend to share household tasks more equally.
The division of household labour also depends on background factors such as women’s labour market status and the number of children. Even in Sweden, the presence of young children in the household pushes women to do more housework than if there were no children, and this is also true – to different degrees and depending on the age and number of children – in the other two countries.
Despite progress in the gender revolution and greater equality in the labour market, educational attainment also continues to have a significant impact on the division of domestic tasks.