Culture portability from origin to destination country: The gender division of domestic work among migrants in Italy

Abstract

BACKGROUND The relative importance of a cultural component in the gender division of unpaid labour is still debated. OBJECTIVE Drawing on the epidemiological approach to the study of culture, we investigate the cultural component of gender inequality by examining whether gender asymmetries in housework and childcare in families with a migrant background relate to gender equity in the country of origin. METHODS Through multilevel models based on microlevel data (Istat SCIF survey), we examine the extent to which the division of household labour between immigrant partners living in Italy relates to gender equity in their origin country, proxied by the Global Gender Gap Index. We further analyse the changing importance of gender equity in the country of origin at different lengths of stay in the destination country. the coefficient related to overall housework, and points to the presence of fine-grained distinctions between specific activities. Results for childcare tasks corroborate descriptive and aggregate findings: gender equity in the origin country relates positively and strongly (also compared to housework) to male engagement in both general childcare (beta = 0.034) and children’s education (beta = 0.039).