Despite gains, women still do most of the housework. Will this gender gap ever narrow?

Decades of research on the household division of labor have consistently shown that women tend to take on more domestic tasks than men. A recent study led by researchers at the University of Alberta sheds light on the challenges of closing this gender gap. Following 520 individuals in Edmonton over 25 years, the study revealed a gendered pattern of housework that starts in the twenties and persists into midlife, with parenthood further widening the gap.

The study, published in the Journal of Family Psychology, highlighted how decisions made early in relationships about chore distribution tend to remain unchanged over time. This stability in relationships’ dynamics over long periods surprised lead researcher Matthew Johnson, emphasizing the persistence of household task patterns.

The research, based on surveys conducted between 1992 and 2017, showed that women consistently took on the majority of cooking, kitchen cleaning, grocery shopping, housecleaning, laundry, and overall housework. These findings, based on individuals currently around 57 years old, suggest that once established, these patterns tend to endure.

The study’s results are consistent with recent data from the Vanier Institute of the Family, indicating that despite some progress in men taking on more household labor, women still bear the brunt of unpaid work. Women over 20 living with a partner in 2020 were more likely to handle tasks like laundry, dishes, housework, meal prep, and grocery shopping, with household finances being the only task evenly distributed.

The slow pace of change in the division of labor persists, with women spending more time on unpaid housework and childcare duties, even when working from home. This unequal distribution of tasks has led to women reporting higher dissatisfaction with chore division than men, reflecting the “double burden” women face.

Yue Qian, an associate professor specializing in family studies, noted that while progress has been made in the public sphere regarding gender equality, men have lagged in the private sphere. The cultural cycle of women being raised to care for men and vice versa contributes to the enduring gap in household responsibilities.

Despite some positive shifts, such as more fathers claiming parental benefits and increased involvement of Millennial dads in childcare, achieving true gender equality requires men to step up in the private sphere. Recognizing and valuing women’s invisible labor, along with workplace and cultural changes, are crucial steps toward closing the gap.

While cultural change may be slow, efforts to promote more equitable chore distribution and shared responsibilities in households are essential for progress. As more children grow up in households with balanced chore distributions, the hope is that the gender gap in household labor will begin to narrow.