Work

Happy Moms, Happier Dads: Gendered Caregiving and Parents’ Affect

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Parenting is emotionally demanding and highly gendered. We use data from the American Time Use Survey to examine mothers' and fathers' momentary affect during childcare activities. We observe a gender imbalance in the emotional rewards of childcare: fathers report more happiness, less stress, and less tiredness than mothers. We introduce the "care context"-defined as the type of childcare activity, when and where it takes place, who is present, and how much care is involved-as an explanation for these gender differences in parents' affect. The analysis reveals that most dimensions of the care context vary between mothers and fathers. We also find that the care context fully accounts for differences in mothers' and fathers' happiness, partially explains differences in stress, and does little to explain differences in tiredness. Thus, the gender imbalance in the emotional rewards of childcare is partially due to parents' highly gendered engagement with their children.

Source: Journal of Family Issues

DOI: 10.1177/0192513x19860179

Authors: Cadhla McDonnell, Nancy Luke, Susan E. Short

Institutions: Pennsylvania State University, Brown University

Language: English

Topic: Family Dynamics and Relationships

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Gender equality, Reduced inequalities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development