Article
How are household chores divided in female breadwinner couples?
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1In Spain, the phenomenon of couples where the female is the sole earner is relatively recent, and to a large extent is the consequence of the destruction of employment in male-dominated sectors during the economic recession.
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2The characteristics of these couples have changed since 2003: today they are younger; they are more likely to have children and to cohabit; also, there are more couples in which the female partner has a higher level of education than the male.
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3Families where the woman is sole earner are more egalitarian than other types of family. This is reflected in a more equitable division of household chores between men and women.
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4However, in Spain, there has been no substantial change in the gender gap in the performance of these chores, which still fall mainly to women, even when the woman is the only partner in paid employment.

The graph shows how the difference of time (in minutes) dedicated to each task according to gender has changed between 2003 and 2010. The figure, therefore, means the value of this difference.