HOUSEHOLD LABOR IN INTERGENERATIONAL HOUSEHOLDS

Previous studies of household labor have focused mainly on the division of labor between husbands and wives. Using subsamples of 385 adult children and 501 parents from the National Survey of Families and Households, we examine housework performed by adult children as reported by both parents and adult children in intergenerational households. Adult children report doing substantial amounts of weekly housework, with parents reporting lower amounts, particularly for sons and for younger adult children. Adult children do more housework in one-parent than in two-parent households, and do increasing amounts with age. Daughters spend somewhat more time in housework than do sons, and their housework time is more sensitive to some factors reflecting household needs than that of sons. Overall, equations based on parent reports have higher explained variance than those based on adult child reports.