A Lifelong Negotiation: Relative Status and the Dynamic Division of Housework

Abstract

The division of housework reflects both gender norms and spousal relative status, yet most research treats it as static, leaving long-term patterns less understood. This study examines how the allocation of household labor evolves over the course of marriage in contemporary China and how these dynamics vary according to wives' status relative to their husbands. Using four waves of the China Family Panel Studies, we employ growth curve models to trace trajectories of housework among couples where wives hold lower, equal, or higher status than their spouses. Results indicate that the wife's share of household work changes systematically over the course of marital duration. In couples of equal statuses, it slightly rises before declining. When the wife holds a lower status, her share starts higher but decreases rapidly over time. When the wife holds a higher status, her share starts lower but increases steadily over time. Despite early differences, the trajectories converge in later years, and disparities in housework allocation diminish. These findings highlight the dynamic nature of household labor division and demonstrate that marital duration interacts with spousal status asymmetries to produce long-term adjustments in the division of housework. The findings reflect both the spouse's long-term negotiation and the symbolic enactment of gender norms, in terms of housework division, among Chinese families.