Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/243236 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Economics Working Paper Series No. 2021/05
Publisher: 
Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, Auckland
Abstract: 
Commonly described as "gender care gap", there is a persistent gender difference in the division of unpaid domestic responsibilities in developed countries. We use German survey data to provide novel evidence on short- and long-run effects of an exogenous shock on paternal availability, through a job loss, on the intra-household allocation of domestic work. We find that paternal child care and housework significantly increase in the short run on weekdays, while we do not see any similar shifts on weekends. Effects are positive and persistent for fathers who remain unemployed or have a working partner, but reverse after re-employment. We also find significant changes for female partners as well as in cumulative household time investments and outsourcing of tasks. Our results are in line with theoretical predictions regarding time availability and financial constraints, while we find no strong evidence for changes in bargaining powers, gender role attitudes or emotional bonding.
Subjects: 
Job loss
paternal child care
fatherhood
domestic labor
intra-household allocation
JEL: 
J13
J22
J63
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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