How Disparities in Housework Skills Lead to Gender Inequality in the Division of Housework

An Experimental Study Using a Factorial Survey Experiment in Japan

Abstract

Previous studies have highlighted gender disparities in housework skills as one reason for the slow pace of equalization in the division of housework. This study examines whether the gap in housework skills in couples affects the housework behavior of each partner and the underlying mechanisms. Specifically, I derive hypotheses regarding different mechanisms from specialization and status characteristic theories and test them using a randomized factorial survey experiment targeting Japanese men and women in their 20s to 50s living in Japan. The analysis results with the willingness to do housework as the dependent variable indicate that the disparity in housework skills affects the willingness to do housework, as expected from the specialization mechanism. However, the magnitude of the effect is not affected by the paid work hours of each partner, the difference between them, or the income ratio of female partner. There were no differences in the effect of disparity in housework skills according to the vignette person' s gender, or respondent's gender or status beliefs about gender and housework skills, as expected from the gender stereotypic evaluation mechanism. These results suggest that the disparity in housework skills is a rationalization tactic for the unequal division among couples and is likely to affect housework behavior. Assuming that men and women acquire different housework skills owing to gender-based socialization, they suggest that a specialization mechanism based on productivity in housework potentially leads to gender inequality in the division of housework.