TY - JOUR
T1 - Boys don't cry (or do the dishes): Family size and the housework gender gap
AU - Menta, Giorgia
AU - Lepinteur, Anthony
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - We here use data from the British Cohort Study (BCS) to link family size to age-16 children's contribution to household chores and the adult housework gender gap. Assuming that home production is an increasing function of family size and using an instrument to account for the endogeneity of fertility, we show that larger families have a different effect on boys and girls at age 16: girls in large families are significantly more likely to contribute to housework, with no effect for boys. We then show that childhood family size affects the housework gender gap between the cohort members and their partners at age 34. Women who grew up in larger families are more likely to carry out a greater share of household tasks in adulthood, as compared to women from smaller families. In addition, growing up in a large family makes cohort members more likely to sort into households with a wider housework gender gap as adults. We show that the persistent effect of family size is due to the adoption of behaviours in line with traditional gender roles: a lower likelihood of employment and shorter commutes for women, along with a higher employment probability for their partners.
AB - We here use data from the British Cohort Study (BCS) to link family size to age-16 children's contribution to household chores and the adult housework gender gap. Assuming that home production is an increasing function of family size and using an instrument to account for the endogeneity of fertility, we show that larger families have a different effect on boys and girls at age 16: girls in large families are significantly more likely to contribute to housework, with no effect for boys. We then show that childhood family size affects the housework gender gap between the cohort members and their partners at age 34. Women who grew up in larger families are more likely to carry out a greater share of household tasks in adulthood, as compared to women from smaller families. In addition, growing up in a large family makes cohort members more likely to sort into households with a wider housework gender gap as adults. We show that the persistent effect of family size is due to the adoption of behaviours in line with traditional gender roles: a lower likelihood of employment and shorter commutes for women, along with a higher employment probability for their partners.
KW - Family size
KW - Housework gender gap
KW - Instrumental variables
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85104323833&partnerID=MN8TOARS
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/c52502b5-faf9-3886-8369-d5bab46bc344/
U2 - 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.03.035
DO - 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.03.035
M3 - Article
SN - 0167-2681
VL - 186
SP - 164
EP - 188
JO - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
JF - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
ER -