Current Research.
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I am currently engaged in a number of projects that seek to better understand and reduce family inequality, with a particular emphasis on how work arrangements, cultural norms and events, and family dynamics both contribute to, and help to reduce, gender inequality. These projects focus on parental leave, work-family dynamics more generally, and how parents' division of labor has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Study on U.S. Parents' Divisions of Labor during COVID-19
This project seeks to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways in which parents divide domestic labor, as well as what consequences these changes have for families. This is a collaborative project with Daniel L. Carlson (University of Utah). We originally collected survey data from partnered parents in April 2020 and asked them about their experiences both before and during the pandemic. We have since collected two additional waves of data in November 2020 and October 2021. Waves 2 and 3 both consisted of follow-up surveys administered to previous panelists as well as cross-sectional surveys of new groups of parents. This study will continue for three more years, resulting in a total of 6 waves of data spanning the period from March 2020 - September 2024. Details about data for this project and studies published using these data can be found below.
Data Availability
With generous support from the National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2148610 and 2148501), each wave of data from the Study on U.S. Parents' Divisions of Labor during COVID-19 (SPDLC) will be publicly available two years after it is collected. The first wave of data from SPDLC is now available, and can be accessed through ICPSR or Cardinal Scholar.
Studies
Data Availability
With generous support from the National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2148610 and 2148501), each wave of data from the Study on U.S. Parents' Divisions of Labor during COVID-19 (SPDLC) will be publicly available two years after it is collected. The first wave of data from SPDLC is now available, and can be accessed through ICPSR or Cardinal Scholar.
Studies
- Changes in Parents' Domestic Labor During the COVID-19 Pandemic. This descriptive study (published in Sociological Inquiry; preprint available on SocArXiv) illustrates how parents' divisions of housework and childcare changed in the early months of the pandemic. Evidence shows that the shock of the pandemic both exacerbated and reduced gender inequality in domestic labor. Additional information can be found in our research brief (Council on Contemporary Families), and media coverage of the paper can be found at: NBC 10 Boston, WWJ Newsradio (Detroit), ABC News, and Wall Street Journal.
- A Gendered Pandemic: Childcare, Homeschooling, and Parents' Employment During COVID-19. This study (published in Gender, Work & Organization; preprint available on SocArXiv) examines factors that explain employment changes for mothers and fathers in the early months of the pandemic. We find that the loss of non-parental childcare and homeschooling requirements increased the risk of unemployment and reduced work hours among mothers. However, father involvement in childcare before the pandemic also buffered against negative employment outcomes for mothers. Additional information can be found in our article in Harvard Business Review.
- U.S. Parents' Domestic Labor Over the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This study (preprint available on SocArXiv) uses longitudinal data over the first year of the pandemic to assess changes in parents' division of domestic labor. We find that partnered parents' divisions of housework and childcare reverted back toward more traditional arrangements by the end of 2020. Changes in parents’ divisions of domestic labor were largely driven by changes in parents’ labor force conditions, and especially by fathers’ labor force conditions. Decreases in fathers’ labor force participation and increases in telecommuting in April 2020 portended increases in partnered fathers’ shares of domestic tasks. As fathers increased time in paid work and returned to in-person work by fall, their shares of domestic labor fell. Overall, results suggest that promoting full-time employment among mothers and greater time at home for fathers are key in facilitating a more equal division of domestic labor within families post-pandemic.
Father Involvement & Gender Equality in the US: Contemporary Norms and Barriers
Father Involvement and Gender Equality in the United States: Contemporary Norms and Barriers (Routledge) provides an overview of fatherhood in the United States today to explore why fathers continue to be less involved in childcare than mothers and to strategize about how we can work toward encouraging and promoting greater father involvement. In doing so, this book examines fundamental issues that are vital in working toward greater gender equality. Specifically, this book focuses on three key questions: (1) How is fatherhood viewed today? (2) Why aren’t fathers more involved at home? (3) How do we get fathers more involved at home?
Women are disadvantaged in both paid and domestic work, due in large part to being primarily responsible for parenting duties. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these inequalities, making the issue of reducing gender inequality even more pressing. Fathers play an important role in contributing to, and perhaps reducing, gender inequality, but barriers to their involvement in family life have received less attention than detailing challenges that mothers face. If men were equally involved in parenting and were truly fully engaged dads, women's burdens would be reduced and perceptions of who is responsible for parenting may change, resulting in greater gender equality. Father Involvement and Gender Equality in the United States focuses on the key issue of father involvement, seeking to understand why fathers are less involved parents than mothers despite an increased desire among both fathers and mothers for fathers to be more engaged parents. Specifically, I use recent national survey data from the United States to provide an overview of contemporary fatherhood in the U.S., including identifying current norms of fatherhood, barriers to father involvement, and strategies to overcome these barriers. In doing so, this book provides a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the culture of fatherhood in the U.S., and the implications of father involvement for gender equality, through the use of quantitative survey data. I also utilize interviews with fathers to compliment this national overview and illustrate how these key themes play out in fathers’ everyday lives.
Release date for the book is August 30, 2022. The book can be pre-ordered here.
Women are disadvantaged in both paid and domestic work, due in large part to being primarily responsible for parenting duties. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these inequalities, making the issue of reducing gender inequality even more pressing. Fathers play an important role in contributing to, and perhaps reducing, gender inequality, but barriers to their involvement in family life have received less attention than detailing challenges that mothers face. If men were equally involved in parenting and were truly fully engaged dads, women's burdens would be reduced and perceptions of who is responsible for parenting may change, resulting in greater gender equality. Father Involvement and Gender Equality in the United States focuses on the key issue of father involvement, seeking to understand why fathers are less involved parents than mothers despite an increased desire among both fathers and mothers for fathers to be more engaged parents. Specifically, I use recent national survey data from the United States to provide an overview of contemporary fatherhood in the U.S., including identifying current norms of fatherhood, barriers to father involvement, and strategies to overcome these barriers. In doing so, this book provides a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the culture of fatherhood in the U.S., and the implications of father involvement for gender equality, through the use of quantitative survey data. I also utilize interviews with fathers to compliment this national overview and illustrate how these key themes play out in fathers’ everyday lives.
Release date for the book is August 30, 2022. The book can be pre-ordered here.
Parental Leave Policies
I am working on a project that focuses on assessing what types of parental leave policies lead to more favorable views of parental leave-taking. In order for parental leave policies to be effective and beneficial, there needs to be good policies in place but the broader culture also needs to be accepting and supportive of individuals who take leave. This project uses an experimental design to assess how various aspects of parental leave policies may affect cultural perceptions of leave-taking. Identifying what types of policies lead to more favorable views of those who take leave can help policymakers to design parental leave policies that will facilitate both greater utilization and cultural acceptance of leave-taking. This is a collaborative project with Trenton D. Mize (Purdue University) and Gayle Kaufman (Davidson College). To date, we have conducted two survey experiments approximately one year apart (2019 and 2020) and have two publications from this project.
Organizational Policies, Workplace Culture, and Perceived Job Commitment of Mothers and Fathers Who Take Parental Leave
Americans do not always fully utilize available parental leave policies due (in part) to fear of a commitment penalty – where taking leave (or taking longer periods of leave) lowers perceptions of job commitment. Using a survey experiment (N = 1713) to identify whether organizational leave policies affect perceived job commitment, we find that leave-taking (and taking longer periods of leave) is negatively associated with perceived commitment. However, perceived commitment is higher when workers take leave under more favorable policies, and the effect of favorable policies on perceived commitment is greater for fathers than mothers. Overall, these results can help organizations design parental leave policies that increase the likelihood that workers can take needed leave without damaging their careers.
As an offshoot of the the main focus on understanding the impact of parental leave policies, this unique design enabled us to consider the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender attitudes.
Organizational Policies, Workplace Culture, and Perceived Job Commitment of Mothers and Fathers Who Take Parental Leave
Americans do not always fully utilize available parental leave policies due (in part) to fear of a commitment penalty – where taking leave (or taking longer periods of leave) lowers perceptions of job commitment. Using a survey experiment (N = 1713) to identify whether organizational leave policies affect perceived job commitment, we find that leave-taking (and taking longer periods of leave) is negatively associated with perceived commitment. However, perceived commitment is higher when workers take leave under more favorable policies, and the effect of favorable policies on perceived commitment is greater for fathers than mothers. Overall, these results can help organizations design parental leave policies that increase the likelihood that workers can take needed leave without damaging their careers.
- Summaries and implications of this study have also been published:
- Paid Leave Policy Design Matters for Workplace Equality (Gender Policy Report)
- Designing Parental Leave Policies that Reduce Stigmas Associated with Leave-Taking (Council on Contemporary Families Blog)
As an offshoot of the the main focus on understanding the impact of parental leave policies, this unique design enabled us to consider the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender attitudes.
- Visualizing Shifts in Gendered Parenting Attitudes during COVID-19
- Many scholars have expressed fears that the 2019 coronavirus pandemic may exacerbate gender inequalities. Indeed, studies have suggested that women, and mothers in particular, have been particularly affected by reducing their participation in the paid labor market to meet increased caregiving needs. What is less clear is whether the pandemic has also shifted attitudes about mothers’ and fathers’ roles. We collected data on gendered parenting attitudes both before and during the pandemic and report shifts in attitudes in this data visualization. Consistent with fears of exacerbated gender inequality, we find a shift toward more conventional gender parenting attitudes. We also find an increase in the importance placed on mothers’ and fathers’ earning money and a decrease in the role mothers and fathers play in child development, both of which may be due to the pandemic’s effects on the economy and schooling.