Gender inequality in the division of domestic labor in Canada: What consequences for fertility intentions?
Despite the advancement of gender equality legislation in Canada, the distribution of domestic tasks remains unequal between women and men in all provinces and regions, with women still contributing more to domestic tasks than men. Based on analysis of Canadian data from the 2011 General Social Survey, this article highlights that while women’s economic autonomy contributes to reducing the gender gap in the sharing of household tasks related to the kitchen and the household, this reduction diminishes however at the arrival of the children. Thus, because individuals re-enact what they perceive as necessary to become a mother and a father, women and men express more frequently desire for a child, if they are yet in a traditional family organization, with greater involvement of women in household and family tasks. The larger household burden assumed by women appears to lead them to rethink their intention to have a third child, while this inequality or traditional scenario seems to always stimulate the desire of children of men.