CHILDREN'S HOME RESPONSIBILITIES: FACTORS PREDICTING CHILDREN'S HOUSEHOLD WORK

Abstract

The main theories predicting children's home responsibilities are sex roles theory and timeavailability theory. This paper reports relevant results from a cross-sectional survey of children ages 10 and 11 in Canada. The strongest predictors of children's home responsibilities were female gender of the child and the number of children aged 0–17 in the household. Home responsibilities also increased when the person most knowledgeable about the child was active in volunteer work, and had more positive interaction with the child. Parents' work status was not related to children's home responsibilities. Sex roles theory is upheld by the results of this study, but time-availability theory is only partially supported.