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Gender Equality and Outsourcing of Domestic Work, Childbearing, and Relationship Stability Among British Couples

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  • Schober, Pia S.

Abstract

This study investigates whether gender inequality in the division of housework and child care may be an obstacle to childbearing and relationship stability among different groups of British couples. Furthermore, it explores whether outsourcing of domestic labor ameliorates any negative effects of domestic work inequality. The empirical investigation uses event-history analysis based on 14 waves (1992-2005) of the British Household Panel Study. The author finds that the association between domestic work arrangements and family outcomes vary by the presence of children, women’s employment, and gender role attitudes. Gender inequality in domestic work reduces relationship stability among egalitarian childless women and among all mothers. For first and second births as outcomes, the association is weaker and depends on the level of inequality and women’s employment status, respectively. Domestic outsourcing is not significant for these family outcomes with the exception of formal child care, which is positively associated with the risk of a second birth.

Suggested Citation

  • Schober, Pia S., 2013. "Gender Equality and Outsourcing of Domestic Work, Childbearing, and Relationship Stability Among British Couples," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 25-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:146093
    DOI: 10.1177/0192513X11433691
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Liat Raz-Yurovich, 2016. "Outsourcing of Housework and the Transition to a Second Birth in Germany," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(3), pages 401-417, June.
    2. Katherine Twamley & Charlotte Faircloth, 2015. "Introduction to Special Section Gender, Intimacy, Equality: (Un)comfortable Bedfellows?," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(4), pages 119-122, November.
    3. Muzhi Zhou & Man-Yee Kan, 2019. "A new family equilibrium? Changing dynamics between the gender division of labor and fertility in Great Britain, 1991–2017," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(50), pages 1455-1500.
    4. Hudde, Ansgar, 2016. "Fertility Is Low When There Is No Societal Agreement on a Specific Gender Role Model," EconStor Preprints 142175, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    5. Jingyue Zhang & Yipeng Tian, 2019. "Housework Division and Second-Child Fertility Anxiety among Couples in China: The Urban and Rural Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-14, October.
    6. Pia S. Schober & Gundula Zoch, 2015. "Change in the Gender Division of Domestic Work after Mummy or Daddy Took Leave: An Examination of Alternative Explanations," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 803, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    7. Marta Regina Cezar-Vaz & Clarice Alves Bonow & Mara Regina Santos Da Silva, 2015. "Mental and Physical Symptoms of Female Rural Workers: Relation between Household and Rural Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-13, September.
    8. Liat Raz-Yurovich, 2012. "Normative and allocation role strain: role incompatibility, outsourcing, and the transition to a second birth in Eastern and Western Germany," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2012-024, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

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