School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemShares of Housework Between Mothers, Fathers and Young People: Routine and Non-routine Housework, Doing Housework for Oneself and Others(Springer Verlag, 2018-02-01)We use data from the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Time Use Survey to investigate shares of domestic work along two dimensions; routine and non-routine activities, and housework done for the whole household versus housework done for oneself only. We argue that the latter is an underutilised marker of responsibility for household management and serving others. Exploiting data from matched household members, we examine relative shares of fathers and mothers, and also of co-resident young people aged 15-34 (416 households), to include inputs from the younger generation as well as the parental couple. Mothers do the greatest share of routine housework and housework for others; parents are relatively equal in the shares of non-routine housework and housework done for themselves only. Young people take on a minimal share of total household work, particularly tasks done for others in the family. Parents’ employment configuration is associated with adjustments in shares between them, with no effect on children’s shares.
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ItemThe Role of Trusted Adults in Young People's Social and Economic Lives(Sage Publications Inc, 2018-07-01)In moving toward adulthood, young people make formative choices about their social and economic engagement while developmentally seeking autonomy from parents. Who else then contributes to guiding young people during this formative life-stage? This article explores one contributing relationship: relationships with trusted adults. Past research has shown that these adults provide motivational, emotional, and instrumental support to young people, but less is known about how and why their support is appropriate particularly during young adulthood. Using qualitative data from an Australian Research Council–funded study, the article explores how and why trusted adults are important and influential, detailing how they talk, what they offer, and how their role differs according to young people’s level of engagement or disengagement from education/employment. The article explores how the trusted adult relationship is developmentally appropriate for young people and outlines implications for policy and future research.
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ItemGender, mobility and parental shares of daily travel with and for children: a cross-national time use comparison(Elsevier, 2019-04-01)Daily mobility varies by gender and is likely related to contextual factors including the gender division of employment and family work, options for modes of transport, and support for work-family reconciliation. This paper compares travel time patterns of men and women using nationally representative time-diary data from Australia, the UK, Spain and Finland (n = 14,176). Despite similarities in men and women's total travel time within countries, results show substantial gender variation in the purpose of daily travel, the transport mode used, who is present, and the way parents in couple-headed households share travel with and for children in relative terms. The extent of the gender gaps vary cross-nationally in ways consistent with prevalent patterns in the gendered division of labour and social parenting norms, but relative gaps in child-serving travel were universal, attesting to the ubiquity of gendered mobility constraints in households with children.
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ItemParenting Stress and the Use of Formal and Informal Child Care: Associations for Fathers and Mothers(SAGE Publications, 2018)We investigated relationships between nonparental care and psychological strains of parenthood. Using data from employed parents of children below 5 years of age (n = 6,886 fathers and mothers) from Waves 4 to 11 of the household panel survey Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA), we constructed a parenting stress scale from the average of four items (α =.76) administered in the Self-Completion Questionnaire. We ran panel random-effects regression models testing associations between amount and type of nonparental care and parenting stress, for both mothers and fathers. We distinguished between formal care, informal and family care (mainly grandparents), and mixed care. Results showed that fathers and mothers’ parenting stress is positively associated with hours of nonparental care, but that for both genders parenting stress is significantly lower if the care is provided by informal/family carers.
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ItemYouth, Recession, and Downward Gender Convergence: Young People’s Employment, Education, and Homemaking in Finland, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States 2000–2013(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2019)Using data from the Luxembourg Income Study, we conduct a gender comparison of how young people aged 20–34 in Finland (n¼19,941), Spain (n¼29,458), Taiwan (n¼47,219), and the United States (n¼184,581) participated in full time work, short-hours or temporary work, education, and homemaking before and after the Great Recession (GR) beginning 2008. Gender and country patterns varied substantially. In Finland, the GR was associated with higher proportions of young women homemaking, perhaps due to public support for home care of children. In Spain and the United States, higher proportions of both young men and young women were un- or underemployed post-GR, suggesting downward gender convergence.
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ItemLabor Force Status, Transitions, and Mothers' and Fathers' Parenting Stress: Direct and Cross‐Spousal Influences(Wiley, 2019)Objective: To investigate relationships between parenting stress and the labor force status and transitions of fathers and mothers, including cross‐spousal effects. Background: Parenting is a demanding role, which can be stressful depending on access to resources and support. Relationships between employment and parenting stress vary by class and gender, but little is known about the effect of transitions—short‐term changes—in labor force status. Method: Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia Survey (n = 4,387 mothers and 4,033 fathers with children younger than age 17) and fixed effects modeling of data over 15 waves, the study examined relationships between parenting stress and mothers and fathers labor force status and transitions between full‐time work, part‐time work, and being out of the labor force. Results: Mothers report higher parenting stress when they are employed part‐time. For both mothers and fathers, having a nonemployed partner is associated with lower parenting stress, but a partner's transition to this status is associated with higher parenting stress. Conclusion: Both mothers and fathers find parenting stressful, and this can be compounded by their employment situation, especially for mothers. Cross‐spousal linkages are also important, notably that having a partner not in the labor force is associated with lower parenting stress for employed parents of both genders and is likely because care can be delegated to the home‐based parent.
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ItemGendered and Generational Inequalities in the Gig Economy Era(Sage Publications, 2019-12-02)
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ItemGender in the gig economy: Men and women using digital platforms to secure work in Australia(Sage Publications Ltd, 2019-12-01)This article explores the characteristics, experiences, and motivations of men and women who secure work through digital platforms. Drawing on quantitative survey data – the first of its kind – of Australian men (n = 251) and women (n = 253) it finds that the gig economy, much like the wider economy, is highly gender-segregated. Men dominate platforms which specialise in what might be considered traditionally male tasks like transport and women dominate platforms which specialise in more traditional female tasks like caring. The results suggest that the gig economy may be an alternative for women in the creative industries. Men and women are both drawn to the gig economy for income-related reasons, despite a significant proportion of them holding a job outside the gig economy. Flexibility was an important motivator for both genders, but women were more likely than men to report that they did gig work because it ‘fitted with their schedule’, indicating that non-work commitments such as family constrain women more than men. More men than women reported that gig work was effective in generating income.