Children's Participation in Family Tasks: Determinants of Mothers' and Fathers' Reports

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the determinants of mothers' and fathers' reports of children's participation in family tasks. Results indicate that across task categories, sibling structure, gender-role orientation, age of oldest child, and family size are more often related to mothers' reports of children's participation. Among fathers, reports of children's task participation are more often influenced by age of oldest child, sibling structure, and extent of mother-father task sharing. Mothers' employment status did not explain any of the variance in parental reports of children's task participation. Implications of these findings are discussed.