Differences in Unpaid Household Work between Men and Women Recent Trends for Latin America from Time Use Surveys

Heidi Ullmann, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Carlos Maldonado, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

Latin American families have changed significantly over the course of the last two decades, owing to marked declines in fertility throughout the region, an increase in female labor force participation, and shifting attitudes and norms regarding cohabitation. However, our understanding of the relationship between family conformation, family socioeconomic status, and gendered differences in unpaid work in the region remains poor. Using recent data from Time Use Surveys from seven countries, we investigate differences in unpaid work between men and women according to family type and socioeconomic position. Although specificities exist, women bear a disproportionate amount of domestic and care work in comparison to men. Moreover, while women’s care and domestic workload varies considerably according to the type of family, the socioeconomic level and the stage of the lifecycle, men show comparatively less variability. This points to the possibility of a regional pattern that may respond to similar social, economic, and cultural processes.