Culture and Gender Allocation of Tasks: Source Country Characteristics and the Division of Non-market Work among US Immigrants

Francine Blau, Lawrence Kahn, Matthew Comey (), Amanda Eng (), Pamela Meyerhofer () and Alexander Willén ()
Additional contact information
Matthew Comey: Cornell University
Amanda Eng: Cornell University
Pamela Meyerhofer: Montana State University

No 13093, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: There is a well-known gender difference in time allocation within the household, which has important implications for gender differences in labor market outcomes. We ask how malleable this gender difference in time allocation is to culture. In particular, we ask if US immigrants allocate tasks differently depending upon the characteristics of the source countries from which they emigrated. Using data from the 2003-2017 waves of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), we find that first-generation immigrants, both women and men, from source countries with more gender equality (as measured by the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index) allocate tasks more equally, while those from less gender equal source countries allocate tasks more traditionally. These results are robust to controls for immigration cohort, years since migration, and other own and spouse characteristics. There is also some indication of an effect of parent source country gender equality for second-generation immigrants, particularly for second-generation men with children. Our findings suggest that broader cultural factors do influence the gender division of labor in the household.

Keywords: housework; childcare; gender; immigration; time allocation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J15 J16 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 72 pages
Date: 2020-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

Published - published in: Review of Economics of the Household, 2020, 18 (4), 907-958

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Related works:
Journal Article: Culture and gender allocation of tasks: source country characteristics and the division of non-market work among US immigrants (2020)
Working Paper: Culture and Gender Allocation of Tasks: Source Country Characteristics and the Division of Non-Market Work among US Immigrants (2020)
Working Paper: Culture and Gender Allocation of Tasks: Source Country Characteristics and the Division of Non-Market Work among US Immigrants (2020)
Working Paper: Culture and Gender Allocation of Tasks: Source Country Characteristics and the Division of Non-market Work among US Immigrants (2020)
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