Gender Ideology and Investment in Housework

Abstract

Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we assessed change in the relation between gender ideology and investment in routine chores across the retirement transition. Retirement may change the relation between ideology and household labor because the direct influence of time pressures is minimized. Specifically, men who have egalitarian attitudes before retirement may act in accordance with these views when they are retired. Surprisingly, results showed that women with an egalitarian ideology increased their investment in routine tasks when retired. Egalitarian men, however, did not invest more in routine tasks postretirement. The retirement transition does not appear to be an event of sufficient significance to change the negligible relation between egalitarian gender ideology and the division of household tasks.