Heterosexual unions and parenthood are key contributors to gender inequality in housework. Over the last two decades, the social meaning of partnership and parenthood has changed. This study investigated whether this change in the narrative of partnership and parenthood status influenced changes in the housework gender gap. Using the American Time Use Survey 2003–2005 and 2013–2015, the findings show that housework gender gap was larger for people in a couple relationship than for singles. For nonparents, the gender gap in housework was no difference between those married and those cohabiting. Gender inequality in housework persisted among married parents but decreased among cohabiting parents, mainly because of the increase in cohabiting fathers’ housework time. These findings suggest a heterosexual union, particularly marriage, reproduces conventional gender roles. Men’s gendered behaviors were not uniform but diverse across partnership and parenthood status.

异性恋结合和父母身份是造成家务劳动中性别不平等的关键因素。在过去的二十年里，伙伴关系和为人父母的社会意义发生了变化。这项研究调查了这种伙伴关系和父母身份叙述的变化是否影响了家务劳动性别差距的变化。使用 2003-2005 年和 2013-2015 年美国时间使用调查的结果表明，夫妻之间的家务劳动性别差距大于单身人士。对于非父母来说，家务劳动的性别差距在已婚者和同居者之间没有差异。已婚父母的家务劳动性别不平等持续存在，但在同居父母中有所减少，主要是因为同居父亲的家务时间增加了。这些发现表明异性恋结合，尤其是婚姻，再现了传统的性别角色。男性的性别行为并不统一，但在伙伴关系和父母身份方面各不相同。