Differences in the Perception of the Division of Care in Couples

Tabea Naujoks , Rostock University

The division of care in couples has been a popular topic of social research for the last decades. Research on this topic has often only analyzed responses from either women or men, without adopting a dyadic approach. However, the individual perspective might lead to a systemic bias since responses on the division of labor care and household tasks often differ within couples (Kamo 2000). Empirical studies have reported that women tend to underreport their contributions, particularly when the housework burden is high, and men who are contributing few hours are more likely to overestimate their housework (Kan 2008). In this study, I ask a) What is the share of couples who perceive the division of childcare differently? b) What determinants drive the differences in couples' perceptions of the division of care (perception gap)? Besides well-established explanations about the accuracy of the measurement and the problem of recall bias, social desirability in the form of gender attitudes is expected to affect if couples perceive the division of care work as similar or not. Furthermore, I hypothesize that the level of communication within the couple reduces the likelihood of exhibiting a perception gap. This study aims to provide new evidence on the determinants of the perception gap in couples by using dyadic data. Logistic regression results using the German PAIRFAM data show that the couples' gender ideology affects whether partners report the same division of care or not. Also, higher levels of communication decrease the likelihood of a perception gap within couples.

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 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe