Patriarchal Hierarchy? Gender, Children's Housework Time, and Family Structure in Post-Reform China

Drawing on data from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies, this research investigates the gendered patterns of the time spent by girls and boys on housework in families with distinct structures, with the presence at home or absence from home of the mother, father, elder/younger sister and brother, and male/female extended family members. The results support the theory of gendered domestic-labor substitution, as children are seen to substitute for the lack and benefit from the surplus of domestic labor resulting from the absence/presence of other male and female family members. The results also depict a neopatriarchal hierarchy that regulates the complex (re)production of domestic gender inequalities in the Chinese family. Addressing the intersection between the stalled and uneven domestic gender revolution and the increasing diversity of family forms in post-reform China, this research underlines the importance of mainstreaming children into research on the gendered division of domestic labor.