Study: grandparental support influences the division of housework between couples

19.07.2022

In recent years, the role of grandparents has become increasingly central in influencing the reproductive choices of couples as it promotes a balance between personal and professional life. Several studies have shown that grandparental support favours the participation of women in the labour market, and encourages the well-being of both grandchildren and grandparents themselves. However, less attention is given to how the relationship between grandparents, parents, and grandchildren can influence the distribution of housework between couples.

In recent years, family responsibilities and the distribution of childcare have progressively become equal, especially among couples with a high level of education. However, with regard to the distribution of daily housework such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and shopping, for the most part, continues to be carried out by women.

Wanting to understand if this phenomenon is influenced by grandparental support, Marco Albertini, professor at the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Bologna, and Marco Tosi, a researcher at the Department of Statistical Sciences of the University of Padua, analysed data from the 2016 ISTAT “Family and Social Subjects” survey. The final study showed that the presence of grandparents in the home helps couples to outsource the more intense and routine tasks, which often weigh on the shoulders of women. As housework decreases, couples have less need to negotiate the division of tasks and less possibility of dividing them unevenly.

The study Grandparents, family solidarity and the division of housework: evidence from the Italian case was published in the GENUS journal of popular sciences.