Most Korean research on gender divisions of housework focuses on married couples. This article extends this literature to examine gender differences in housework across living arrangements and marital status, with particular focus on during transition into adulthood. This study examines the amount and composition of domestic work performed by those aged 25 to 39, using nationwide representative time-diary data in 2014. They are divided by marital status and living arrangements: single with family, single living alone, married without children, and married with children. It finds that females spend more time on housework regardless of marital status and living arrangements than males. The highlight of this article is that females living alone spend less time for housework than the other females. In contrast, males living alone spend more hours on housework than the other males. Moreover, females’ housework time increases rapidly after getting married, but males living with wives spend the least time for housework.
References:
Lee, Jin-Sook and Yun-Suk Lee. 2018. “Housework Time during Transition into Adulthood: A Gender Comparison.” The Women’s Studies 98(3): 65-95.
