Psychology

The Division of labor in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual new adoptive parents

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Little research has investigated the division of child care and housework in adoptive or lesbian/gay parent families, yet these contexts "control for" family characteristics such as biological relatedness and parental gender differences known to be linked to family work. This study examined predictors (measured preadoption) of the division of child care and housework (measured postadoption) in lesbian (n = 55), gay (n = 40), and heterosexual (n = 65) newly adoptive couples. Same-sex couples shared child care and housework more equally than heterosexual couples. For the full sample, inequities in work hours between partners were associated with greater discrepancies in partners' contributions to child care and masculine tasks; inequities in income between partners were related to greater discrepancies in contributions to feminine tasks. Participants who contributed more to child care tended to contribute more to feminine tasks. These findings extend knowledge of how labor arrangements are enacted in diverse groups. © National Council on Family Relations, 2012.

Publication Title

Journal of Marriage and Family

Publication Date

2012

Volume

74

Issue

4

First Page

812

Last Page

828

ISSN

0022-2445

DOI

10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.00992.x

Keywords

child care, gay, housework, lesbian, multilevel models, transition to parenthood

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