Housework Gender Gap: Replicating the Analysis by Racialised Groups in Canada

We analyse the 1986-2010 Canadian General Social Survey to determine whether housework types matter in how much the resource-based theoretical frameworks can account for in the explanation of the gender gap in housework. The present study tests the effects of resource differentials on housework performances among Anglo-, French, East Asian, South Asian, and Filipinx Canadians. The results show that although the resource-based frameworks claim to apply regardless of housework task, they cannot explain the gender gap in more gendered housework tasks, where the time commitment is higher. The frameworks can better apply, however, to less gendered housework tasks such as grocery shopping and services. The gendered character of a task and the cultural meanings of housework participation are paramount to unveiling mechanisms underlying the division of housework.