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The gender gap in the division of childcare and the work-family balance
Journal Title: PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE 
Author/s: Diego Lasio, Daniela Putzu, Francesco Serri, Silvia De Simone 
Year:  2017 Issue: 2 Language: Italian 
Pages:  23 Pg. 21-43 FullText PDF:  267 KB
DOI:  10.3280/PDS2017-002002
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The gender gap in the division of childcare in heterosexual couples is at the origin of women’s difficulties in balancing paid work with family responsibilities. The work aimed at analysing the expectations of couples living the transition to parenthood with the purpose of disclosing the discursive practices related to the work-family balance. In order to identify the expectations over the division of childcare and the plans for balancing paid work and family responsibilities, twenty couples were interviewed during the third trimester of pregnancy. Results revealed that couples referred to an essentialist view of gender according to which women are the main responsible for childcare; for some couples, this view runs counter the expectation of an egalitarian division of childcare. When the mother is responsible for childcare, she is the sole responsible for the work-family balance. Results highlighted the need for interventions aimed at deconstructing discourses that reproduce gender asymmetries in the division of childcare.
Keywords: Childcare, paid work-family balance, gender gap.

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Diego Lasio, Daniela Putzu, Francesco Serri, Silvia De Simone, The gender gap in the division of childcare and the work-family balance in "PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE" 2/2017, pp. 21-43, DOI:10.3280/PDS2017-002002

   

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