Germany – Gender Gap in Household Work – Data

While gender gaps in the workplace continue to receive (much needed)
attention, the situation in unpaid household work is rarely talked about.
Recent data confirm that German women still do the lion’s share of family work,
even when they have a job.

Women in full-time paid employment still spend
nearly twice as much time on housework on an average work day as their male
counterparts. When women live with a partner, their household work load
increases significantly whereas men’s decreases. The presence of children
widens the gap further. German mothers in full-time employment spend (on
average per week day) 1.5 hours more on paid and unpaid work combined than
fathers in full-time employment. Although female labour force participation is
increasing substantially, family work at large continues to be allocated
disproportionately to women within a couple.

The impact: both social and economic

This issue is significant from an equality but also from an economic
perspective: as everybody’s day has 24 hours, there is an obvious relationship
between women’s paid work and unpaid family work. A higher share of unpaid
family work explains women’s preference for part-time paid work. Regardless of
paid work intensity, it also reduces their chances of professional success. A
higher double load of housework and paid work limits career opportunities: due
to higher family responsibilities (occupying mental space), limited mobility,
and the difficulty to handle extra work hours when required.

A more encompassing outlook: family-work systems

The concept of family-work systems includes the idea that, within
households, there is demand not only for income, but also for unpaid family
work, and that they cannot be considered in isolation. This concept was
developed in the 1970s to encompass all activities, performed for free for the
family by a family member, which are necessary for the family to function
adequately. It includes housework, shopping, administrative work (dealing with
utility services, banks, health services, schools, etc) and caring work
(children, the elderly, or sick people). Women worldwide spend more time on
daily family work than men. But the extent of the gender difference is
particularly high in Germany. Other data also show that when both paid and
unpaid work are taken into consideration, women in part-time employment work
longer hours overall than do men who work full-time.

Factors influencing gender equality in the distribution of family
work

A recent study carried out by the BiB (Federal Institute for Population
Research) identifies three main factors affecting the gender gap in unpaid
family work:

• Women’s working status. Men’s involvement in family
  work tends to increase with their partner’s participation in paid
  employment, especially when they have at least one child. This is likely
  to benefit all family members, especially through more intense
  father-child interactions.

• Women’s income. The more the woman contributes to
  household income, the more she can rely on her partner’s help at home.
  This provides another incentive – and another way – to narrow the gender
  wage gap. Enhancing higher education for girls, including in Science and
  Engineering, will also help: the less education women have, the less
  likely they are to have paid work.

• Expectations about gender roles. Couples with less
  gender bias in their outlook tend to have more equal shares of family work
  than traditional couples. This partially explains the regional differences
  (on top of the availability of childcare): men in east Germany tend to do
  more family work than their western counterparts.

What can be done?

As usual, both governments and companies have a role to play, as well as
individuals.

• Any incentive for fathers to spend more time on family
  work without a major downside, financially and career-wise, will help. The
  increase in paid parental leave for fathers should have a positive effect.

• More and better part-time career opportunities for both
  genders can also go a long way, in connection with good-quality,
  affordable childcare with flexible hours.

• A decrease in the gender wage gap would make it more
  viable financially to share more equitably both unpaid and paid work.