How couples divide employment, family and housework does not only depend on the framework conditions set by politicians and employers, but is also co-determined by gender norms (e.g. Kühhirt 2012; Schulz & Blossfeld 2006). But how are these gender roles formed? International studies indicate that gender-specific socialization during childhood and adolescence plays a major role in this (e.g. Cunningham 2001; Platt & Polavieja 2016). 

Against this background, the project “Development of family images - AID:A-Panel III” investigates the influence of parents' role attitudes and work division patterns on their children's ideas about partnership, parenthood and family division of labor. It is assumed that such a connection is particularly easy to prove in the case of young adults, as their models of partnership and family are still more likely to be based on their childhood experiences than, for example, those of women and men who are already in the “rush hour of life”. For the latter, professional, financial and partnership conditions are likely to be particularly important for the sharing arrangement.

Data from the first (2009) and second wave (2013/14) of the DJI survey Growing up in Germany (AID:A) will be analyzed in order to investigate the connection outlined above. In addition, the third survey wave (2018), which was collected specifically as part of the project, is included, in which today's 16- to 27-year-olds were asked specifically about their ideas on gender and parental roles as well as the division of labor in their (future) partnership or family. The multi-actor design, in which different family members were interviewed, and the long survey period of almost ten years make it possible to collect and analyze aspects of the transmission of gender roles in a longitudinal section.

Are young adults' ideas about the division of paid work related to how their parents divide them up? Are these relationships mediated by the children's own gender and couple concepts?

To what extent are young adults' ideas about the division of housework and childcare related to how their parents have divided them up? Are the parents' attitudes or their behavior more relevant? What influence does their own involvement in housework have? What role do siblings play?

What influence does the relationship with the mother or father have on young adults' ideas about the care and child-raising role?

Initial results show a robust correlation between parental employment arrangements and their children's ideas. Adolescents whose parents shared employment equally (in the majority of cases, this means that both parents worked full-time) are in favor of a higher volume of working hours for mothers than those who grew up in a male sole-earner model. In addition, of all the dimensions of gender role attitudes measured for mothers, only one is relevant: approval of more women in public and political leadership positions: The more progressive the mother's attitudes are in this regard, the higher the level of employment that male adolescents consider ideal for mothers. There were no significant associations with the ideas of young women in this regard. On the other hand, the data support a significant correlation between the perceived parental employment arrangement and the ideas of both sons and daughters. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that the persistence of gender-specific work division patterns is determined not only by structural conditions but also by socialization experiences in the parental home.

Cunningham, Mick (2001): The Influence of Parental Attitudes and Behaviors on Children's Attitudes Toward Gender and Household Labor in Early Adulthood. In: Journal of Marriage and Family, 63.Jg., H.1, S. 111–122

Kühhirt, Michael (2012): Childbirth and the Long-Term Division of Labour within Couples. How do Substitution, Bargaining Power, and Norms affect Parents' Time Allocation in West Germany? In: European Sociological Review, 28.Jg. H.5, S. 565–582

Platt, Lucinda/Polavieja, Javier (2016): Saying and Doing Gender: Intergenerational Transmission of Attitudes towards the Sexual Division of Labour. In: European Sociological Review, 32.Jg., H.6, S. 820–834

Schulz, Florian/Blossfeld, Hans-Peter (2006): Wie verändert sich die häusliche Arbeitsteilung im Eheverlauf? Eine Längsschnittstudie der ersten 14 Ehejahre in Westdeutschland. In: Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 58.Jg., H.1, S. 23–49

 

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