Gender Division of Household Labor in China: Cohort Analysis in Life Course Patterns

Abstract

Using hierarchical age–period–cohort growth curve models, this study assesses changes in gender disparities in housework time across Chinese adults’ life course and across different birth cohorts. The results revealed three key findings. First, inconsistent with convergence theory, the Chinese family is still a male-dominated but male-absent family, with women still doing the majority of domestic work and showing no signs of decline with age. Second, as they age, Chinese women and men present diverging tendencies toward time spent on housework: Women tend to dedicate more time to it, and men less, resulting in a widening gender gap in housework with age. Third, although recent cohorts present lower levels of housework time than previous cohorts, this is because men from recent cohorts are doing less housework, while their female counterparts are doing almost as much as women from earlier cohorts.