Researchers from the Ohio State University (OSU) discovered that among new parents, women tend to carry more of the workload in caring for the baby than do men.
While the study pointed out that the workload of the husband rose by 40 minutes, the wife's share increased by two full hours.
According to Professor Claire Kamp Dush, co-author of the research, finding the exact explanation for this difference can be difficult, but she believes it may have something to do with what is called "gate-keeping." This is when women tend to control the involvement of their husband in rearing their child.
"Women ended up shouldering a lot more of the work that comes with a new baby, even though both men and women thought they added the same amount of additional work," Kamp Dush said.
In their study, Kamp Dush and her team analyzed data from 182 couples who were well-educated and both man and woman had stable earnings. They also divided their housework equally and continued working even after the birth of the child.
The participants were studied during the final three months of the woman's pregnancy, and it was resumed when the baby reached nine months old.
The researchers found that despite the increase in the women's responsibilities at home, their time at work did not decrease.
"The woman is doing more of the housework and more of the childcare, while not doing any less paid work," Kamp Dush said.
She said that the equal division of workload at home between the husband and the wife ceases.
Kamp Dush added that women should not control their partner's parenting and that men should take a more active role in learning about their duties in raising their child.
The results of their study showed that the participating couples did not have an egalitarian relationship, especially in terms of childcare, even though both parents had education and stable financial resources.
The couples said that they had an equal share of the responsibilities at home before their child was born. When the baby arrived, their housework rose to an average of 15 hours every week.
The men said they were active in parenting duties, but that they also lessened the amount of housework they did by average of five hours every week.
The Ohio State University study is published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.
Photo: Ross Griff | Flickr
