Jorik Vergauwen

Gender inequality in the division of housework over the life course: a European comparative perspective

Most Western European post-war welfare states are developed on the basic assumptions of the male breadwinner/female carer model that assumes a gendered division of paid and domestic work (Pascall & Lewis, 2004). In recent decades various societal institutions made a shift from the male breadwinner model towards the gender equity model. Gender equity means that gender is not a determinant of who is responsible for carrying out paid work, housework or childcare in a household (McDonald, 2000b). The shift has witnessed different speeds in different institutions. Gender inequity has largely disappeared from institutions such as education and employment. Over the last 50 years, female participation in higher education and the labour market significantly increased and the distribution of paid work between partners became more equal on average (Crompton, 1999). This contrasts to institutions related to family and parenting that experienced a much slower adjustment (McDonald, 2000a). The more equal distribution of paid work is partly offset by a more equal distribution of housework and childcare (Altintas, 2009; Lachance-Grzela & Bouchard, 2010). Goldscheider suggests that the revolution towards gender equality runs in two stages (Goldscheider, 2000; Goldscheider, Olah, & Puur, 2010). The first part of the gender revolution in which women enter the public sphere of education, employment and politics has been largely accomplished (Bernhardt, Noack, & Lyngstad, 2008). The second part of the revolution in which men join the private sphere and take up their part of the responsibility for housework and childcare lags behind. This incompatibility between the public and private life leads to a negative pressure on fertility and general family stability.

Educational differentials in cohabitors' marriage intentions at different childbearing stages in seven European countries

Several studies have looked into the socio-economic gradients of cohabitation and non-marital fertility. According to the theory of the Second Demographic Transition, highly educated individuals can be considered as forerunners in the Western European spread of non-marital family forms after the 1970s. In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), however, research has provided evidence for a Pattern of Disadvantage where those with the lowest education have been the most likely to adopt such family forms. Hitherto, few studies have considered the educational gradient of the intentions underlying these behaviors. This contribution uses information on marriage and fertility intentions from the Generations and Gender Surveys for seven European countries to assess educational differentials. In Western Europe we observe no strong educational gradients in marriage intentions at any childbearing stage (before, during or following). In CEE countries, however, less educated cohabitors more frequently choose for cohabitation during childbearing.