Parental Influences on the Gendered Division of Housework

Abstract

Despite a recent emphasis on contextual explanations for the gendered division of housework, early socialization may also be important. Data from a 31–year panel study of white mothers and children are used to examine parental predictors of the division of household labor among the adult children. Parental influences are assessed when the children were ages 1 and 15; characteristics of the adult children are measured at ages 23 and 31. The effects of the parents’ division of housework and parents’ education on children's division of housework are considered, as well as the effects of the mother's gender-role attitudes and employment. The parental division of labor measured when the sons were very young has a positive effect on the sons'later participation in routine housework, while the mother's employment during their daughters’ early years is a more important predictor of the allocation of housework among the daughters. Parental influences are transmitted partially through the children's gender-role attitudes, but there is also evidence of enduring direct effects of parental characteristics on children's housework allocation, especially for men.