Just Living Together : implications of cohabitation for fathers participation in child care in Western Europe
González, María José (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Miret, Pau 1964- (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics)
Treviño, Rocío (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics)

Date:	2010
Abstract:	This article tests the assumption that cohabitation makes a difference in the allocation of childcare responsibilities within couples. It has often been assumed that cohabiting individuals are less likely to adhere to traditional gender ideologies than married people, because they tend to have a lower tolerance for poorly functioning relationships, to assign more value to individual freedom, and to base their relationships on egalitarian individualism, rather than on the joint utility maximisation of married couples. So far, however, most studies have focused on the determinants and consequences of being in cohabitation, and have overlooked the gender implications of this living arrangement. Here we explore whether fathers in consensual unions are more prone than fathers in marital unions to share childcare responsibilities with their female partners. We use multilevel regression models for panel data to analyse ECHP in the period between 1996 and 2001. Our sample included around 13,000 couples living in heterosexual partnerships with small children (at least one child below age 13), and yielded around 45,000 observations over this period of time in 10 Western European nations. We found weak evidence of the influence of cohabitation, relative to marriage, on gender equality, but we also discovered that the diffusion of cohabitation at the societal level is associated with a more equal allocation of child care between partners.
Grants:	Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia SEJ2007-62684 Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia CSO2008-00654 Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia SEJ2007-67569
Note:	Investigació financiada per l'Institut Català de les Dones (2008-2009) i pel Ministeri d'Educació i Ciència (MEC) (projects SEJ2007-62684/SOCI, CSO2008-00654/SOCI and SEJ2007-67569/SOCI)
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Cohabitation ; ECHP ; Europe ; Gender division of child care
Published in:	Demographic research, Vol. 23 Núm. 16 (August 2010) , p. 445-478, ISSN 1435-9871

Adreça alternativa: https://www.demographic-research.org/Volumes/Vol23/16/
DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2010.23.16

36 p, 671.5 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Centre for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles