Formation and change of the gendered economic and power inequalities - the case of division of labour in Polish households

In my project I explore the division of labour among Polish dual-earner couples, having children. Existing literature shows that gender inequalities are produced and reproduced both on the labour market (e.g. gender pay gap) and in the households (e.g. women doing most housework and childcare), processes which are often investigated separate. In this project I connect spheres of family and work, focusing primarily on dual-earner heterosexual couples because among them the traditional gender roles are most contested and work-family conflict is significant.

I have conducted 86 individual in-depth interviews with partners from 44 couples investigating not only the final division of labour in the family, but also the process of its formation and reformation. Interviewing both partners about their relationship and division of work was crucial to understand how individual, interactional and institutional factors influence their decisions. Talking to couples with at least one relatively young child provides insight into formation (or reinforcement) of unequal division of labour among partners. and whether the process itself is gendered and unequal.

The project establishes how the division of labour looks among my respondents. It describes possible childcare arrangements, both formal (e.g. nurseries and preschools) and informal (e.g. grandparents), as well as long-term consequences of having children. These include experiences of my respondents, as mothers and fathers on the labour market. I aim to determine whether and how gender, intersects with other factors (like income or education), influences the process and final outcomes of change concerning the division of labour after the birth of the first child and how the situation rearranges over time.