25 ans de participation des hommes et des femmes au travail domestique : quels facteurs d’évolutions ?

Abstract

Over the past 25 years, men have become more involved in childrearing activities, while their participation in other domestic tasks has remained stable. Women also spend more time in parenting activities than before, but significantly less in housework. They are thus gradually abandoning their role as "housewife" for their primary role of "mother and educator". Changes in the types of domestic tasks that women perform are mainly driven by changes in behaviors, reflecting a relaxation of the requirements for housekeeping. The increase in female employment and changes in family structures have also influenced these changes, but to a lesser extent.
There is some assortative mating in terms of time spent on domestic chores between partners, and this assortative mating has become stronger over time. The traditional domestic specialization where the man is the primary provider of resource has decreased, especially during the 1990s. However, there is a resistance to a more egalitarian sharing of domestic chores, women remaining primarily responsible for overseeing the overall running of the household . The time spent on their children's education and care is more balanced within couples, with fathers assuming no childrearing tasks at all become scarcer. This more equal time allocation reflects a change in parental norms. Fathers' involvement with their children is nowadays more valued than in the past.