The benefits of intergenerational co-residence: reconsidering the effects of women's education on their housework hours in urban China

Previous research on housework has mainly focused on nuclear households. This study proposes a new theoretical framework, power negotiation preference in different family contexts, to understand how women's resources bring different levels of power when negotiating with different household members. Empirically, this study examines how the effect of married women's education on their housework hours varies based on whether or not they live with their parents and/or in-laws. Using OLS regression on data from the China Family Panel Studies, a nationally representative survey, this study finds that the direct effect of women's education lowering their housework hours is stronger when they live with their parents or in-laws. In addition, the effect of women's education is stronger on weekdays compared to weekends when women do not live with parents or in-laws, but does not differ by weekdays or weekends when they live with their parents or in-laws.