Presenter: Tamara McGavock, Grinnell College
Presentation Title: Redistributing unpaid domestic and care work improves mental well-being for both spouses (joint with Shivani Gupta, Ellen B. McCullough, Thomas Assefa, and Tigabu Getahun)
Abstract:
Across cultures, women shoulder disproportionate unpaid domestic and care work and also experience depression at twice men’s rate on average. Yet linking shifts in unpaid work to mental health is nearly always correlational. Our experiment shows the relationship is causal: increasing men’s participation spreads the burden and improves mental health for mothers and fathers. We study ultra-poor rural Ethiopian households, where norms keep men’s contributions especially low despite time-intensive, physically demanding needs. A 14-week phone-based behavior-change communication (BCC) program that engaged men in personalized discussions significantly reduced depressive symptoms for both spouses in our sample, because it reallocated household labor. Treated men’s chore contributions rose 40 percent, and sons helped more. As a result, women’s share of chores fell, allowing them to focus on preferred tasks. These findings show that redistributing household responsibilities can enhance both partners’ well-being and yield intergenerational benefits, even when women’s total work hours do not decline.
Hosts: Joe Kaboski