DemoSoc seminar by Renzo Carriero
DemoSoc seminar by Renzo Carriero
On Tuesday 28th, Visitor Renzo Carriero will present:
The role of culture in the gendered division of housework. Evidence from migrant populations in Europe
Time: 12.00 h
Place: room 40.S16 (Roger de Llúria building)
Abstract
The importance of national contexts in shaping the gendered division of housework has been highlighted by several studies in the last years. However, the role of institutional (e.g. welfare regimes or social policies) and cultural factors (social norms) is difficult to disentangle as they are inevitably confounded in national contexts. To address this issue, I apply the emerging “epidemiological approach” which focuses on international migrants as individuals who bring cultures differing from the one prevalent in the national contexts in which they live. I analyze the gender division of housework of first and second generation immigrants living in countries covered by the second and fifth round of European Social Survey. Applying cross-classified multilevel models and using several indicators of gender culture at both origin and destination, I found that the female share of housework increases in couples when the man or the woman comes from a gender traditional cultural background. The effect of culture is only partly explained by parental background (mother’s education and employment) and persists also after controlling for usual determinants of women’s housework (education, employment status and family size). However, the effect of culture disappears among second generation women, suggesting that they are more likely than men to reject the disadvantageous aspects of their ancestry culture.