Background: Although most countries show a general convergence in men’s and women’s investment in domestic labor, women continue doing more housework, especially among couples with children. However, cross-national descriptive estimates have focused exclusively on routine tasks, thus overlooking potential change in gender inequality in non-routine tasks, as well as the total housework investment, which varies significantly across countries. Objective: Our aims are twofold: (1) to provide the most recent estimates of housework investments from time-use diaries across all tasks, (2) to describe the relationships between total housework investment, gender inequality, and gender task segregation. Methods: Using the Harmonized European Time Use Survey (HETUS), we focus on different-sex couples living with children under the age of 18 across 15 European countries (n = 74,630). We measure housework across six primary tasks: cooking, cleaning, laundry, maintenance, gardening and pet care, and household administration. Results: Mothers continue doing more housework than fathers across all 15 countries. The gender gap in housework is higher in countries with higher levels of total housework investment. However, we also find descriptive evidence that non-routine ‘male-typed’ tasks might be becoming gender-neutral. Conclusions: Housework scholars should re-visit the typology of task segregation and focus on a comparative investigation of the meaning and standards of housework and their relationship with gender inequality. Contribution: This note draws attention to the role of the total housework investment in driving cross-national variation in gender inequality, and the importance of a comparative perspective within gender for understanding task segregation.

中文翻译：

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家务时间和任务分离：重新审视 15 个欧洲国家父母之间的性别不平等（作者：Joan García Román、Ariane Ophir）

背景：尽管大多数国家的男性和女性在家务劳动的投入方面存在普遍趋同，但女性仍然承担更多的家务劳动，尤其是在有孩子的夫妇中。然而，跨国描述性估计仅关注日常任务，从而忽视了非常规任务中性别不平等的潜在变化，以及家务劳动总投资，而各国之间差异很大。目标：我们的目标有两个：(1) 根据所有任务的时间使用日记提供家务投资的最新估计，(2) 描述家务总投资、性别不平等和性别任务隔离之间的关系。方法：利用欧洲统一时间使用调查 (HETUS)，我们重点关注 15 个欧洲国家中有 18 岁以下子女的不同性别夫妇 (n = 74,630)。我们通过六项主要任务来衡量家务劳动：烹饪、清洁、洗衣、维护、园艺和宠物护理以及家庭管理。结果：在所有 15 个国家中，母亲承担的家务劳动仍然多于父亲。在家务劳动总投资水平较高的国家，家务劳动中的性别差距更大。然而，我们也发现了一些描述性证据，表明非常规的“男性型”任务可能正在变得不分性别。结论：家务学者应重新审视任务分离的类型学，重点对家务劳动的含义和标准及其与性别不平等的关系进行比较研究。贡献：本说明提请注意家务劳动总投资在推动性别不平等跨国差异中的作用，以及性别内部比较视角对于理解任务分离的重要性。