Rich or poor, man dedicates 10 hours to domestic work – 03/22/2024 – Laura Machado

We already know that, on average, when adding economic work and domestic work, women work significantly more than men and take on the majority of hours dedicated to domestic work. It is noteworthy that women allocate twice as much time as men to the latter, one more day of work per week, 8 hours.

Does the division of time with domestic work change when it comes to a rich couple? And rich women? Are younger couples, potentially more influenced by the current debate on gender inequality, changing the division of household chores?

Data from the 2022 National Household Sample Survey show that yes, there is inequality between women in the allocation of domestic work hours, however, in the allocation of men, there is no. They dedicate 10 hours a week to domestic work regardless of the group they belong to.

The portrait of the division of time between economic work and domestic tasks is quite heterogeneous. However, specifically regarding the allocation of time to domestic tasks, in none of the classifications created, do men allocate anything other than 10 hours: rich, poor, young, married, in the job market, the number of hours is the same.

The homogeneity in the delimitation of the number of hours is noteworthy, which is perhaps more linked to sex than to other variables. The allocation of hours among women changes radically depending on the group to which they belong.

Poor women allocate around 25 hours per week to domestic tasks, married women up to 44 years old allocate 23 hours, young women, 21 hours, young married women who work, 19 hours, married women who work, 19 hours, rich married women , 3 pm, and rich women, 2 pm. The variation in the number of hours among women is 14 to 25 hours, while among men, the same groups vary from 9 to 11 hours. In none of the categories do men allocate more hours than women, although the total sum between domestic and economic varies.

Rich, working women put in fewer hours than poor, young, married women. It is possible that, as they have more resources, they will acquire the provision of care services, and this contracting will not be possible for the most vulnerable, who take on all the tasks. Among men, the number of hours remains stable at 10 hours, poor or rich, young or not.

For public policy, the implications are many. Signaling from the job market and the government that women are as valued and welcome as men, in terms of salaries and leadership positions, can influence family decision-making so that they are less unequal.

In addition to the job market, raising awareness with society is also very important. For example, a five-day paternity leave signals that caregiving is legally unequal between men and women.

Awareness-raising actions and egalitarian standards are essential so that decisions within families move towards a less unequal division of domestic and care tasks between men and women.

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