A hidden cost of drinking: Alcohol use and gendered inequalities in unpaid care work

Abstract

The impact of alcohol use on families is an important, yet frequently understudied, avenue of research. Unpaid care work, which encompasses childcare, eldercare, cooking, and cleaning, and alcohol use, are both gendered. Men are more likely to consume alcohol, binge drink, and have alcohol use disorder and women do more unpaid care work in families. Given the gendered nature of both, this study aims to assess if alcohol consumption impacts the distribution of unpaid care work in families by gender. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), a longitudinal dataset, this paper analyzes how alcohol use influences the husband and wife's distribution of unpaid care work. Data was analyzed using a fixed effects model with robust standard errors. The results indicate that alcohol use significantly impacts the distribution of unpaid care work in the family. Heavy drinking by the husband is associated with the wives completing an additional 10.59 hours of childcare a week and 2.120 more hours of housework a week. Heavy drinking by the wife is correlated with 2.384 fewer hours of housework. The wife's drinking behavior has a minimal effect on the husband's unpaid care burden. These results indicate that there are even higher levels of gender inequality in unpaid care work in alcohol-affected families (AAFs) which may lead to worse social, economic, and psychological outcomes for the women in those families. This further emphasizes the importance of incorporating spouses and families in interventions and policies about alcohol use.