Paternal Time Investment in Children, Maternal Mental Health, and Mothers' Labour Market Outcomes

Women perform more unpaid domestic labour than men, including care work for children. This unequal division of labour in the household contributes to lower female participation in the labour market and the gender earnings gap. Economists have primarily examined the role of physical labour (e.g. cooking, cleaning, tending to children) by measuring time use, but sociologists contend that emotional and cognitive labour (e.g. planning, anticipating needs, coordinating responsibilities) are significant aspects of household labour division. This project aims to (1) pilot measures of cognitive labour for mothers and fathers, (2) test whether, controlling for physical labour in the household, cognitive labour predicts women’s labour market outcomes, and (3) develop a potential intervention to promote more equitable division of cognitive labour in the household.