Journal article

Gendered housework under China's privatization: the evolving role of parents

Xiao Tan, Leah Ruppanner, Meijiao Wang

Chinese Sociological Review | Taylor & Francis | Published : 2021

Abstract

In China’s multigenerational society, parents fulfill essential family functions including housework–a critical site of gender inequality with important consequences. Combining data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (n = 14,096 person-years, 1997–2015) with a province-level privatization index, we find that co-residing with parents was associated with less housework time, whereas co-residing with sick parents was associated with more housework time. These associations were stronger for women than men. Our results highlight the increasingly important role of parents to help their adult daughters or daughters-in-law cope with housework demands as China’s economy was privatized.