Racial and Ethnic Homogamy and Gendered Time on Core Housework

Catherine Bolzendahl, University of California, Irvine
Zoya Gubernskaya, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)

Gendered patterns in time spent on housework differ among racial/ethnic groups, but it is not clear whether racial/ethnic partner homogamy contributes to these differences. The increasing number of interracial marriages may work to undermine patterns of marital homogamy, and suggest a new mechanism explaining gendered division of housework. To evaluate this, we pool 10 years of data from the American Time Use Survey and examine how time spent on housework varies by gender and racial/ethnic homogamy. Our findings show that those in interracial partnerships are more gender egalitarian as women in such unions spend less time on housework and men spend more. Homogamy effects are strongest among Hispanic and Asian respondents. Descriptive patterns based on partner’s race/ethnicity are explored, and implications for marital deinstitutionalization and theories of racial/ethnic differences in housework mechanism are discussed.