open access

https://doi.org/10.14943/b.edu.137.171

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/80275

The possibility of coordination between husband and wife regarding the domestic division of labour : an analysis focusing on parental leave

日本語

Parental leave

2020-12-23

Faculty of Education, Hokkaido University

Bulletin of Faculty of Education, Hokkaido University

137

171-191

　In terms of the time and frequency of housework and child-rearing, the sharing of dual-earner couples tends to be equal, but it still shows the same tendency that wife bear more as in the case of single-earner couples. The existing research have reexamined the determinants of role-sharing for dual-earner couples, but little has been discussed about the increasingly rigid division of roles during the birth and growth of children. Thus, the possibility of the coordination of housework between husband and wife would be limited. This research uses paired data collected from couples to develop an analysis by the use of parental leave and its effects. The results show the possibility for coordination of the division of labour includes interchangeability and substitutability. A decrease in the interchangeability of the division of labour occurs when communication between the couple is inhibited with only the wife being on parental leave, which leads to a limit on the husband’s sharing and further a reduction in the substitutability of the couple. This study therefore argues that it is more important to reduce the gap of taking a leave between couples than discussing how to promote the use of parental leave for men. Creating an environment in which both spouses can take parental leave, or co-parenting without taking parental leave, would be helpful in creating a harmonious division of labour between spouses.

紀要論文

Version of Record

1882-1669

AA12219452